Aug 21, 2006
The top leaders of the Mogadishu-based Islamic Courts Council on Monday reiterated calls for the public to prepare for "jihad" against foreign troops. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the Islamists' legislative chief, asked the Somali people to prepare for the defense of the homeland against "the enemy of Somalia," a direct reference to Ethiopia.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the ICC's executive chairman, said the Somali people do not need foreign troops, but are in need of genuine reconciliation. Sheikh Sharif warned IGAD, an East African regional bloc, to not send peacekeepers into Somalia.
On August 18, IGAD nations approved a plan to deploy some 7,000 peacekeepers to help the Baidoa-based interim Somali government return the rule of law. Ethiopian troops are presently inside several Somali regions, including Baidoa, even though both the Somali and Ethiopian governments deny such reports.
Ethiopia, Somalia's neighbor and longtime rival, is openly against the spread and influence of Somali Islamists, and has previously promised to "crush" them if they ever attacked the government base at Baidoa.
Garowe Online News
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