BBC
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Two Somali warlords defeated in recent fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, are reported to have fled the country.
Bashir Raghe and Muse Sudi Yalahow, both part of a coalition formed to fight an Islamist militia, were said to have left Mogadishu by boat.
The Union of Islamic Courts gained control of the capital two weeks ago after months of fierce fighting.
The lawless city had been controlled by a group of secular warlords since the government fell in 1991.
Reports suggested that the two men had boarded a US vessel off the coast of Somalia.
‘Looted’
“Bashir Raghe and Muse Sudi took a boat and they were picked up by the US,” a senior aide to the Islamist leadership, Abdulrahman Ali Osman, told Reuters news agency.
“Everybody is running to their houses to take their guns. Bashir Raghe’s house is being looted,” he said.
But a spokesman for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Jeff Breslau, said he “had no information on that”.
The Union of Islamic Courts want to introduce Sharia law and end lawlessness on the streets. They now control much of southern Somalia.
Their victory in Mogadishu is seen as a major setback for US policy in the region.
The US has neither confirmed nor denied reports it backed the warlords but has said it will stop Somalia becoming a safe haven for terrorists.
Somalia has not had an effective national government for 15 years, during which time it has been fought over by a host of different armed factions.
Source: BBC, June 17, 2006
