The hard-line Muslim leaders, who have seized control of much of southern Somalia, claimed authority throughout the country Thursday in a new slap at the interim government, which sits powerless at its base in Baidoa, 90 miles from the chaotic capital of Mogadishu.
The rise of the Islamic group has caused concern in the West, which fears Somalia will become a terrorist haven.
“We will not accept any group who wants to undermine our government,” said Ismail Hurreh, an official in the interim administration that was formed with help from the United Nations.
Salad Ali Jelle, the government’s deputy information minister, said the government would hold an emergency meeting this weekend to discuss the militia.
Washington worries Somalia could become a new Taliban Afghanistan, offering terrorists a base from which to strike. U.S. officials have accused the Islamic militia of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
In an audio message yesterday purported to be bin Laden, the speaker vows to continue to fight the United States and its “allies everywhere, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan.”
The tape was released on an Islamic Web forum where militants often post messages and bears the logo of al-Qaida’s production branch.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Source: AP, July 1, 2006
