Somali divisions widen as speaker leaves Kenya

Sun May 15, 2005

By Mohamed Ali Bile

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's parliament speaker flew to Mogadishu from Kenya on Sunday to try to install the assembly in the capital, deepening a rift within the government over where it should be based.

The dispute has increased power struggles within President Abdullahi Yusuf's government, which has worked from offices in Kenya since it was formed there at peace talks last year.

Yusuf and his supporters want to base the administration outside the lawless capital, which they say is too dangerous.

The government intends to disarm all militias in the anarchic country and establish an effective administration for the first time in 14 years.

Its location is a key security issue for the Horn of Africa, a region long buffeted by Somalia's political turmoil.

The speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, flew to Mogadishu to back his view that the capital should host the government and to protest against a parliamentary vote supervised by Yusuf last week to site the administration in two provincial towns, aides said.

Diplomats said Adan, who took no part in the session, had been humiliated by Yusuf's action.

Adan, who flew from Nairobi accompanied by some 20 MPs, questioned whether the vote carried credible political support since about 100 members of the 275-strong body are currently in Somalia, many of them staying away from Nairobi as a protest against Yusuf's policies.

An aide to Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi said he took note of Adan's move but the government was carrying on with its plan to relocate to the towns of Baidoa and Jowhar. The aide said Gedi would announce a cabinet reshuffle on Monday, but did not elaborate.

Somalia collapsed into chaos after the overthrow of military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, and conflict and famine have killed hundreds of thousands of people since then.

Yusuf's bid to restore government is Somalia's 14th such attempt.

PREPARED TO FIGHT

Key warlords who lead the government's Mogadishu faction have meanwhile withdrawn 600 gunmen from the capital to boost security in the city and back their case that it should host Yusuf's administration.

Officials of three prominent warlords said 600 of their fighters and 54 battlewagons -- flatbed trucks mounted with heavy machineguns or anti-aircraft guns which are fired horizontally -- had been moved to two camps outside the city.

Aides to the three, Osman Ali Ato, Muse Sudi Yalahow and Mohammed Qanyare, said 66 more battlewagons would be moved to the camps at Hilweyene 30 km (20 miles) to the north and Lantaburo 60 km to the south in coming days.

The move does not affect so-called freelance militias -- mostly gunmen working for private firms or Islamic courts.

Yusuf is a friend of Ethiopia, the region's top military power, but he has no powerbase in Mogadishu. Many Somalis are hostile to what they see as attempts by their huge, nominally Christian-led neighbor to dictate events in the region.

On Thursday, the African Union approved a plan to send Ugandan and Sudanese troops to help Yusuf's government relocate, but the Mogadishu faction says such a deployment before the government resolves its row will only worsen Somalia's crisis.

Muse Sudi, speaking at a rally on Saturday, reiterated that his militia was prepared to fight AU forces if they arrived before the government had sorted out its disputes.

"Black African soldiers should stay away from the Somalia crisis. If they deviate (from this policy) and arrive here, they will die on the Somali battleground," he said.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.