| Saturday, May 27, 2006 The Associated Press |
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Fighting resumed in the capital early Saturday between Islamic militia fighters and their secular rivals a day after hundreds of residents fled some of the fiercest battles in Mogadishu in 14 years.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi ordered four key Mogadishu warlords who are also Cabinet ministers to resume their duties within seven days and join the rest of the government in Baidoa, 155 miles northwest of Mogadishu, or face prosecution.
The ministers are members of the secular alliance known as the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism, which is fighting the Islamic militias. They were not immediately available for comment.
Gedi’s Thursday letter to National Security Minister Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, Commerce Minister Musse Sudi Yalahow, Religious Minister Omar Mahamoud Mohamed and Demobilization of Militiamen Minister Botan Isse Allen, which was made public Saturday, did not specify what legal sanctions the ministers would face.
Gedi’s U.N.-backed government has not been able to assert authority over Somalia, which has been embroiled in clan fighting and without a real government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Islamic fundamentalists reject the government because it is not based on Islam, and portray themselves as an alternative force capable of bringing order to the country. They accuse the secular alliance of working for the CIA. The alliance accuses the self-appointed Islamic court leaders of having links to al-Qaida.
U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly refused to confirm or deny any association with the alliance.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Somali Red Crescent Society said there have been more than 300 killed and 1,500 wounded in Mogadishu since fighting first erupted Feb. 18.
The two sides signed a May 14 cease-fire but fighting began again in northern Mogadishu on Wednesday.
Thousands of civilians fled their homes on foot, some with children on their backs, trying to keep from being caught in the crossfire or struck by stray rockets, shells and bullets.
