MOGADISHU — Two defeated Somali warlords have fled from Mogadishu to a waiting US ship, while a third publicly renounced his opposition to the capital's new ruling Joint Islamic Courts (JIC), court sources said on Saturday, June 17.
Bashir Raghe and Muse Sudi Yalahow took a boat early in the morning to a US military vessel which approached the Somali coast, while Omar Finnish told local media that he had apologized for his opposition to the courts, a senior aide to the courts' leadership told Reuters.
"Bashir Raghe and Muse Sudi took a boat and they were picked up by the US. They said they would be back in a few days but everybody thinks they will seek asylum," said the aide, Abdulrahman Ali Osman.
"Everybody is running to their houses to take their guns. Bashir Raghe's house is being looted."
There was no independent confirmation immediately available.
Since February, the JIC has led militias in a series of battles against the US-backed warlords, who ruled Mogadishu and parts of Somalia since the ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
The courts won decisively in fighting that claimed 350 lives. Experts say the courts also won support by providing a semblance of security and justice in one of the world's most dangerous cities.
But they did not stop with the coastal capital, and swiftly moved inland to secure critical towns almost to the Ethiopian border, giving them newfound power and encroaching on the weak interim government's seat in Baidoa.
US government officials and experts have said that secret funding by Washington's CIA for the warlord Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) has backfired, empowering the same groups the Bush administration has sought to marginalize.
Public Uprising
JIC leaders invited foreign journalists Friday night, June 16, to counter accusations from their vanquished rivals that they supported Al-Qaeda and intended to rule with an iron fist, noting that the warlords were defeated by a public uprising.
"We have no intention of creating something on our own. We want to concentrate on bringing stability and security," JIC Deputy Chairman Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar told foreign journalists in the Somali capital at the courts' invitation.
"Then we are ready for dialogue and discussion in the future. We are not here to form our own government," Omar said. "There was a total uprising by the whole grassroots of Mogadishu," Omar said.
The courts again denied there were any foreign terrorists or extremists in their midst, which is the reason the warlords gave for fighting them — in what many say was a ploy to obtain the US counterterrorism funding they are widely believed to have received.
"If you can find a terrorist, let us know. If we find one we are very much prepared to hand him over," Omar said. "There are no foreign terrorists in Mogadishu."
The JIC's military progress prompted the interim government to start negotiations, but the courts said a parliamentary vote last Wednesday to allow troops into the country would scuttle the talks.
"We are ready for a dialogue, we are willing to compromise," Omar said, but added there would be no budging on foreign troops: "From our point of view there is no reason for foreign troops. We can stabilize Somalia ourselves."
On Friday, thousands of courts supporters protested against foreign interference in the country's affairs and US backing of the defeated warlords.
The protesters, on their second day in the streets, said the parliament had been manipulated by other countries in the region, namely Ethiopia, which they accused of wanting to occupy their shattered nation.
"Bush is a war criminal who massacred a lot of people", "Go to hell with your democracy", "We choose Islam as our form of leadership", "Our parliament was nominated by Ethiopia", read some of the banners.
The last foreign attempt to send troops to Somalia — led by UN and US peacekeepers between 1993 and 1995 — failed after powerful warlords accused them of meddling in Somali affairs and attacked them. Eighteen US special forces soldiers and several UN peacekeepers were killed.
A US-inspired international group on Somalia met in the United Nations on Thursday, June 15, to discuss a unified strategy on the country following the victory of the courts.
The meeting brought together representatives from the United States, Norway, Britain, Sweden, Italy and the European Union. But the Arab League, the pan-Arab umbrella body in which Somalia is a member, was excluded from the meeting.
Washington has invested considerable military and intelligence resources in the Horn of Africa, starting with a base in Djibouti, and is known to operate in tandem with local security services.