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JIC fighters celebrate after taking control of the strategic town of Jowhar.
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MOGADISHU — Two defeated Somali warlords have
fled from Mogadishu to a waiting US ship, while a third publicly
renounced his opposition to the capital's new ruling Joint Islamic
Courts (JIC), court sources said on Saturday, June 17.
Bashir Raghe and Muse Sudi Yalahow took a boat
early in the morning to a US military vessel which approached the
Somali coast, while Omar Finnish told local media that he had
apologized for his opposition to the courts, a senior aide to the
courts' leadership told Reuters.
"Bashir Raghe and Muse Sudi took a boat and
they were picked up by the US. They said they would be back in a few
days but everybody thinks they will seek asylum," said the aide,
Abdulrahman Ali Osman.
"Everybody is running to their houses to take
their guns. Bashir Raghe's house is being looted."
There was no independent confirmation immediately
available.
Since February, the JIC has led militias in a
series of battles against the US-backed warlords, who ruled Mogadishu
and parts of Somalia since the ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre
in 1991.
The courts won decisively in fighting that claimed
350 lives. Experts say the courts also won support by providing a
semblance of security and justice in one of the world's most dangerous
cities.
But they did not stop with the coastal capital, and
swiftly moved inland to secure critical towns almost to the Ethiopian
border, giving them newfound power and encroaching on the weak interim
government's seat in Baidoa.
US government officials and experts have said
that secret funding by Washington's CIA for the warlord Alliance for
the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) has backfired,
empowering the same groups the Bush administration has sought to
marginalize.
Public Uprising
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Thousands of Somalis protesting foreign intervention and supporting the JIC.
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JIC leaders invited foreign journalists Friday
night, June 16, to counter accusations from their vanquished rivals
that they supported Al-Qaeda and intended to rule with an iron fist,
noting that the warlords were defeated by a public uprising.
"We have no intention of creating something on
our own. We want to concentrate on bringing stability and
security," JIC Deputy Chairman Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar told
foreign journalists in the Somali capital at the courts' invitation.
"Then we are ready for dialogue and discussion
in the future. We are not here to form our own government," Omar
said. "There was a total uprising by the whole grassroots of
Mogadishu," Omar said.
The courts again denied there were any foreign
terrorists or extremists in their midst, which is the reason the
warlords gave for fighting them — in what many say was a ploy to
obtain the US counterterrorism funding they are widely believed to
have received.
"If you can find a terrorist, let us know. If
we find one we are very much prepared to hand him over," Omar
said. "There are no foreign terrorists in Mogadishu."
The JIC's military progress prompted the interim
government to start negotiations, but the courts said a parliamentary
vote last Wednesday to allow troops into the country would scuttle the
talks.
"We are ready for a dialogue, we are willing
to compromise," Omar said, but added there would be no budging on
foreign troops: "From our point of view there is no reason for
foreign troops. We can stabilize Somalia ourselves."
On Friday, thousands of courts supporters protested
against foreign interference in the country's affairs and US backing
of the defeated warlords.
The protesters, on their second day in the streets,
said the parliament had been manipulated by other countries in the
region, namely Ethiopia, which they accused of wanting to occupy their
shattered nation.
"Bush is a war criminal who massacred a lot of
people", "Go to hell with your democracy", "We
choose Islam as our form of leadership", "Our parliament was
nominated by Ethiopia", read some of the banners.
The last foreign attempt to send troops to Somalia
— led by UN and US peacekeepers between 1993 and 1995 — failed
after powerful warlords accused them of meddling in Somali affairs and
attacked them. Eighteen US special forces soldiers and several UN
peacekeepers were killed.
A US-inspired international group on Somalia met in
the United Nations on Thursday, June 15, to discuss a unified strategy
on the country following the victory of the courts.
The meeting brought together representatives from
the United States, Norway, Britain, Sweden, Italy and the European
Union. But the Arab League, the pan-Arab umbrella body in which
Somalia is a member, was excluded from the meeting.
Washington has invested considerable military and
intelligence resources in the Horn of Africa, starting with a base in
Djibouti, and is known to operate in tandem with local security
services.
