Somalia's Islamic Movement Signs Accord

By SALAD DUHUL 11.10.06
Somalia's Islamic movement signed a preliminary peace agreement Friday with a powerful lawmaker aimed at averting a looming war, but the deal was brokered without input from the country's weak interim government.
Senior Islamic officials agreed on the deal with Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden in the capital, Mogadishu. Aden attended the meeting, however, without authorization from the transitional government, which has accused him of breaking ranks and trying to undermine its authority.
The two sides called on the government to back the deal.
"This is a first step, and we are headed for peace," said Ibrahim Hassan Adow, the Islamic Courts spokesman for foreign affairs.
"We hope this agreement will prevent a conflict in Somalia," Omar Hashi, who signed the agreement on behalf of the parliamentary speaker, told The Associated Press.
The deal focuses on seven key points, and includes a pledge by both sides not to allow foreign interference in Somalia. It also calls on the international community to maintain a U.N. arms embargo that prevents African peacekeepers from entering the country, and urges a resumption in peace talks, which collapsed last week in Khartoum, Sudan.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a dictator and then turned on one another. The government was formed with the help of the U.N. two years ago, but has struggled to assert its authority.
Islamic militants, meanwhile, have been rising since June and now control the capital and most of the country's south. Both sides have been in a tense standoff amid fears of an all-out conflict.
Experts say Somalia could become a proxy battleground for neighboring Ethiopia and Eritrea, which broke away from Ethiopia in a 1961-91 civil war and fought another 1998-2000 border war with its rival. Eritrea supports the Islamic militia, while Ethiopia backs the interim government.
A confidential U.N. report obtained recently by The Associated Press said 6,000-8,000 Ethiopian troops were in Somalia or along the border. It also said 2,000 soldiers from Eritrea were inside Somalia. Eritrea denies having any troops in Somalia, while Ethiopia insists it has sent only a few hundred advisers.
Aden is considered the government member most sympathetic to the Islamic movement, which the United States accuses of having ties to al-Qaida. His decision to hold talks without the cooperation of the prime minister and president was seen as a direct challenge to their authority, and signaled a possible future collapse in the government.
One of the top leaders in the Islamic courts, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, told local radio station HornAfrik Friday that the United States was mistaken in thinking the Islamic courts were harboring terrorists.
The United States "can pressure the Ethiopian government to stop its interference in Somalia's affairs. This could pave the way for success in the ... peace talks," he said.
Late last week, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, warned that extremists in Somalia were planning suicide attacks in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Earlier Friday, hundreds of Somali women took to the streets to express their support for the transitional government, urging the international community not to neglect the administration while it is being challenged by the powerful Islamic movement.
In other towns, protesters demonstrated in opposition to the interim government.
"No to foreign troops in our land," said one banner - in reference to the involvement of Ethiopian troops in support of the interim government - at a protest of several thousand people in the seaport of Kismayo, which the Islamic group took control of in September.
Also Friday, an Islamic leader in Kismayo announced a ban on smoking and selling cigarettes in two regions he administers. Smokers face a month in jail and a $17 fine, Abdirahman Mohamed Firin said by telephone.
Associated Press Writer Mohamed Sheik Nor in Mogadishu contributed to this report.
Associated Press