Mogadishu drums out a message of war
December 17, 2006

ARMS are flooding into the city by sea and air, mosques are filled with a call to jihad and foreign fighters are arriving by the planeload: Mogadishu is once again braced for war. For 15 years Somalia has been kept in near-constant anarchy by warlords intent on carving their own personal fiefdoms. Now the powerful Somali Islamic Courts Council, which restored a transient peace to the capital and seized much of the south of the country, is on a collision course with the near-impotent official interim government and its Ethiopian backers that could suck the entire Horn of Africa into conflict.

Everywhere there are signs that the Islamists are preparing their supporters for battle. Vans with loudhailers patrol the city’s muddy streets, calling the faithful to join the coming war against Ethiopia. Friday prayers were dominated by sermons extolling the virtues of jihad as imams read from scripts prepared by the leaders of the Islamic council.

Residents say foreign fighters have been arriving at the airport, while diplomatic sources in neighbouring Kenya say the Islamist movement is equipping itself with anti-aircraft missiles to combat Ethiopia’s helicopter gunships.

Residents fear the onslaught of Ethiopia’s military might. Maryan Elmi, who has a seven-year-old daughter, spoke for many mothers when she said: “Our civil war was fought on the ground but this war will bring the Ethiopian air force. People want to flee but to where nobody knows. I am worried for my daughter.”

Tensions between the Islamic council and the country’s fragile interim government mounted last week. Islamist forces have encircled the dusty government seat of Baidoa where militias loyal to President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed have dug in alongside thousands of Ethiopian troops.

The Islamic leadership, accused by the United States of being in league with Al-Qaeda, has set an ultimatum of Tuesday for the Ethiopians to leave Somalia or face attack. Peace talks are due to take place this week in Khartoum but neither side has confirmed that it will attend.

In the past few days two heavy transport planes arrived under cover of darkness at Mogadishu airport from central Asia, according to sources in the city.

A cargo ship has docked at the nearby port of Merka, believed to be carrying troops from Eritrea, which backs the Islamic council. “This is all part of the build-up to war but what is really worrying the international community is the sophistication of the weaponry,” said a western diplomatic source

Source: The Times















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