MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN
Associated Press
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hundreds of residents of southern Somalia have begun fleeing their homes in anticipation of an attack by the only major warlord to boycott the peace process in neighboring Kenya, witnesses said Monday.
Villagers living the Gedo and Jubba valleys reached by two-way radio said Mohamed Siad Hersi, better known as General Morgan, was building up troops, weapons and ammunition for a possible assault on the strategic port of Kismayo, residents said on condition they not be named for fear of retribution.
More than 50 trucks mounted with heavy weapons were seen moving north from the Bai region toward Kismayo, 250 miles south of the capital Mogadishu, said a resident in the Diin Door district of Bai.
Adoow Aadan Diriye, an elder reached in Bardhere, south of Kismayo, told The Associated Press that most of the residents of his town had already left in anticipation of a battle between Morgan's militia and troops from the Jubba Valley Alliance, who are mobilizing forces to defend Kismayo.
"When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers most," he said.
Morgan is the only significant faction leader to boycott the peace talks in Kenya, which swore in a new national parliament for the Horn of Africa country on Aug. 22. He walked out of the talks in March over a dispute regarding a transitional charter for Somalia.
The seven-nation regional organization mediating the talks, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, threatened Sunday to slap heavy sanctions against Morgan for attempting to derail the peace efforts. The organization urged other Somali faction leaders to disassociate themselves from Morgan, while inviting him to rejoin the peace talks in Kenya.
Human rights and civil society organizations in Somalia have condemned Morgan's activities, saying a "blatant act of aggression at this time when Somalia is on the threshold of peace is unacceptable."