Hundreds of people who belonged to Somalia’s armed forces before the country descended into chaos in 1991 massed in the capital on Wednesday to denounce plans to send foreign peacekeepers to Somalia, the second such protest in as many days.
”We are going to fight every foreigner who steps foot in our country,” said Hashi Fodaade, who once served as a spokesperson for Somalia’s military.
It was the latest demonstration organised by an Islamic militia that has seized control of Mogadishu and much of the rest of southern Somalia. The militants oppose foreign interference, while the country’s virtually powerless official government has appealed for outside help.
On Tuesday, about 3 000 people gathered in the capital to protest against any foreign peacekeepers — the same day that a coalition of East African nations approved an ambitious plan to deploy troops in Somalia by early next month.
”We will wage a holy war against them!” the crowd shouted on Tuesday.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, pulling the country into anarchy.
The current government was established two years ago with the support of the United Nations, but it has no power outside its base in Baidoa, about 250km from Mogadishu.
Clerics and militiamen set up a network of Islamic courts in a bid to restore order, sparking fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. But since sweeping through much of southern Somalia in June, the Islamic group has brought a semblance of order after years of anarchy.
The Islamic group’s dealings with the government have been mixed.
On Monday, negotiators from both sides met in Khartoum, Sudan, and signed an agreement to eventually form a unified national army.
The agreement did not specify when the plan would take effect, and talks are expected to resume October 30.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan praised the deal and encouraged both sides to ”ensure a conducive environment for the next round of talks, which will take up crucial political, power-sharing and security issues.”
But one day later in Nairobi, Kenya, authorities from seven African countries endorsed a plan to send 3 500 Ugandan and Sudanese soldiers to Somalia by early October. The agreement by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) is unlikely to become reality anytime soon.
The plan faces two major obstacles: the UN must lift an arms embargo on Somalia that has been in place for more than 10 years to allow peacekeepers to enter the country, and the African Union must release funds to back the mission, which is expected to cost $34-million a month.
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a top leader in Somalia’s Islamic militia, called the Igad meeting ”a plot against our country”.
It was not immediately clear whether the announcement to deploy peacekeepers will disrupt Monday’s agreement. — Sapa-AP