Wednesday, August 16, 2006
BBC NEWS
Reports from the town of Hobyo say heavily armed Islamic courts militiamen moved in at dawn without any fighting.
The Islamists have taken control of most of central and southern Somalia since seizing the capital in June after defeating an alliance of warlords.
Attempts have so far failed to get the transitional government and Islamic courts to Sudan for peace talks.
The town of Hobyo is close to the autonomous Puntland region, whose administration is hostile to the Islamic courts.
It has warned its population against supporting the Islamist advance.
Welcome
Hundreds of fighters travelling on armed pick-ups arrived in Hobyo at dawn, according to reports.
 Ghedi is now wanting to talk to the Islamic courts |
“We did not capture it but we reached the people of Hobyo to bring them our message of peace,” an Islamic officer who wanted to remain anonymous told AFP news agency.
At the weekend the UIC took control of Harardhere and Eldher ports – both of which have been used as a base for piracy.
The internationally recognised interim government controls only the central town of Baidoa, but is supported by Ethiopia, which says it will intervene if Baidoa is attacked.
The Islamists also claimed some 100 government fighters defected on Wednesday to Burhakba from Baidoa with seven armed pick-up trucks.
Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf is from Puntland and is a long-time ally of Ethiopia.
His prime minister, Ali Mohammed Ghedi, has said the will now participate in peace talks, after earlier being reluctant to enter dialogue with the UIC, a stance that led to mass resignations from his government.
But the UIC refuse to go to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for talks unless all Ethiopian troops leave Somali soil – though Ethiopia denies any of its troops are in Somalia.
A visiting Kenyan delegation recently urged the UIC to avoid any escalation of hostilities in Somalia and take part in talks.
Somalia has had no effective central government since the ousting of dictator Siad Barre in 1991.
Crisis
Meanwhile, a United Nations agency has warned that a severe humanitarian crisis could erupt this year in Somalia, where insecurity could compound crop failures and livestock deaths during drought – with the south worst hit.
The UN’s Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) said some 1.8 million Somalis remain dependent on assistance but warned that the number could double if fears of widespread conflict are realised.
It said supplies of aid and imported food stuffs were compromised by violence and could be reduced to a trickle by large-scale fighting.
Source: BBC, Aug 16, 2006
