by Abdulkadir Khalif
Even for Mogadishu’s battle-scarred residents, the recent fighting in the city has taken an unusual turn. The clashes have risen to a new level of ferocity, civilians have became targets and in addition to the commonly used assault rifles, mortars and artillery shells, are now weapons of choice by the combatants.
The combatants, too, have changed: no longer fighting each other, Mogadishu warlords have united under the so-called Peace Restoration and Anti-terrorist Coalition to counter the Islamic court militia that has become a force to reckon with.
In the brutal battles of the past few weeks to take control of parts of the Somali capital, about 180 people have been killed (150 of them in one week alone). Since February, at least 320 people have been killed, thousands wounded and many more forced to flee their homes.
For 15 years, secular warlords who toppled General Mohamed Siad Barre have fought each other as Islamists remained subdued, but with their own designs for taking power an open secret.
The recent rebirth of the Islamists happened while the warlords were busy negotiating peace and sharing power in Nairobi from 2002 to October 2004, which culminated in the setting up of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) headed by President Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, and based in the southwestern town of Baidoa.
The Islamists first set up isolated, clan-based courts and then strategically linked them into a network. Militias were recruited and trained to serve the courts, effectively putting them under the command of the Islamist leaders.
The leaders of the Islamic courts are headed by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and operate under a council of unknown number. The group includes religious figures like Sheikh Hassan Dahir Awes, said to be a war veteran who has served in Afghanistan.
The fact that the Islamic courts have been able to assemble a formidable force that is heavily armed and apparently well organised has ordinary Somali’s and observers abroad pointing to al Qaeda and other fundamentalist Islamic groups as sources of weapons and cash for the militia. Whatever their source of support, one fact is clear: they have managed to severely weaken the warlords’ power base in Mogadishu.
The warlords who came together in February to form the Anti-terrorist Coalition to counter the Islamic court militia included Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, the TFG’s national security minister and Musa Sudi Yalahow, the TFG’s commerce minister (both of whom were key players at the Nairobi peace talks), and four businessmen, including Northern Mogadishu tycoon Bashir Raghe Shirar and Southern Mogadishu hotelier, Abdirashid Shire Ilqeyte, who were later joined by a war-hardened warlord, Abdi Hassan Awale Qaybdiid.
The warlords publicly admit their association with the US war-on-terror, their justification for the recent battles being that they are hunting down foreign terrorists they say have been given safe haven by the Islamists in Mogadishu. The US has long viewed Somalia as a haven for al Qaeda operatives and has reportedly given the warlords names of those on its wanted list.
The sheikhs running the Islamic courts, on the other hand, deny harbouring foreign terrorists and justify their involvement in the violent confrontations as their way of defending the people from the destructive actions of the warlords. But they do not hide their preferred style of governance: should they triumph, the country will be governed by Sharia law, they promise.
What has now dawned on the people is that they are caught in a violent power struggle between two heavily armed camps whose backers have put immense resources (weapons, cash and logistics) at their disposal. Indeed, observers are seeing the vicious battles for control of Mogadishu as a proxy war between Islam and the United States’ “war on terrorism”.
Although the US has neither confirmed nor denied that it is funding the warlords, its stated policy of “working with anyone it considers an ally in the fight against terrorism” has left observers with no doubt that it is backing the warlords, an act they say betrays the Somali people and undermines international efforts to give the transitional government, seen as the best hope for peace in Somalia, some teeth.
The apparent contradictions in the US policy on Somalia is said to be behind this week’s transfer of the Somali political affairs officer at the US Embassy in Kenya, Michael Zorick, to the Chad embassy. Zorick is said to have spoken out against the US decision to co-operate with the warlords instead of the new government.
“The US is undoubtedly the greatest obstacle to the stabilisation of Somalia,” remarked a civil society activist in Mogadishu.
As Somalis witness their hopes for peace evaporate, they are increasingly leaning towards home-grown solutions. “Either foreigners rally behind the TFG or keep their hands off Somalia to allow us to sort out our problems our own way,” said Aw Osman Barrow, a local elder.
Abdulkadir Khalif writes from Mogadishu and can be reached at khalifos@hotmail.com
The opinions contained in this article are solely those of the writer, and in no way, form or shape represent the editorial opinions of “Hiiraan Online”
