Factions begin talks about future of Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Islamic militia that defeated U.S.-backed warlords and seized nearly all of southern Somalia held talks Thursday with Somalia’s largely powerless government on the future of the lawless nation.

Meanwhile, warlords driven out of Mogadishu by an Islamist militia are advancing back toward the Somali capital from their last stronghold of Jowhar, residents said Thursday.

In a surprise, both the United States and the European Union issued somewhat conciliatory statements about the Islamic militia, which has been accused of sheltering al-Qaida leaders and wants to end 16 years of Somali anarchy by installing an Islamic government and court system.

The Islamic Courts Union militiamen still face fierce opposition from a clan-controlled pocket of the capital, Mogadishu, even though they drove out secular fighters Monday. The radical Islamic militia’s growing power has forced officials in Somalia’s interim government, and around the world, to take notice.

The U.S. has said it worried most about sheltering terrorists in Somalia — and that the courts union is hosting at least three al-Qaida leaders. But this week it said the group’s goal was to restore “some semblance of order.”

U.S. involvement in Somalia The United States may be open to dealing with Islamic militia who took over Somalia’s capital this week, possibly signaling a new approach to the lawless Horn of Africa country. Following are some key dates in Washington’s relations with Somalia in the past 15 years. December 1992: The United States sends 28,000 troops to Somalia at head of “Operation Restore Hope,” a U.N. military effort to quell Somalia’s wartime famine. October 1993: 18 U.S. Army Rangers are killed when Somali militias shoot down two military helicopters. The United States later suspects the Somalis were trained by al-Qaida, and the event is dramatized in the movie “Black Hawk Down.” March 1994: The United States ends its mission in Somalia. August 1998: Truck bombs claimed by al-Qaida kill more than 200 people at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Suspects include Somali citizens, and the United States receives reports that al-Qaida members are in Somalia. December 2002: The United States sends 1,300 military personnel to establish a counterterrorism unit near Somalia. Based in Djibouti, the task force is designed to hunt for militant groups in six Horn of Africa countries, including Somalia. Commanders discuss sharing security technology with regional forces and training them in counterterrorism techniques. Early 2006: Somali warlords form an “Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism.” Experts on Somalia later suspect the United States is funding the group, whose secular members have been battling Islamic militias for control of the country. June 6, 2006: Islamic militias take over Mogadishu. June 7: U.S. officials signal they may be open to dealing with the militias. Reuters

No real government
Somalia has been without a real government since largely clan-based warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, dividing this Horn of Africa nation of 8 million into a patchwork of rival fiefdoms.

The United States has not carried out direct action in Somalia since the deaths of 18 servicemen in a 1993 battle in Mogadishu depicted in the film “Black Hawk Down.”

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington Wednesday that the Islamic Courts Union’s aim, “is to try to lay the foundations for some institutions in Somalia that might form the basis for a better and more peaceful, secure Somalia where the rule of law is important.”

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday he supported the interim government’s decision to launch a “dialogue in Mogadishu with the Islamic Courts, civil society, the business communities as well as other stakeholders.”

The U.S. statement came too soon after the Islamic militia’s victory to represent a real policy shift, said John Prendergast, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group. He said Washington likely was still reaching out to more moderate elements of the group.

McCormack said the courts union “isn’t a monolithic group.”

‘A bit schizophrenic’
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, have confirmed cooperating with the secular warlords opposing the union.

The U.S. also has said that Islamic leaders in Mogadishu are sheltering three al-Qaida leaders indicted in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 231 people. The same al-Qaida cell is believed responsible for the 2002 suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya, which killed 15 people, and a simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner over Kenya.

“It’s a bit schizophrenic,” Prendergast said of the U.S. statement Wednesday.

MORE FROM AFRICA

Africa Section Front

Ghana illegal mine collapse kills 15 Tanzanian landslide kills 11 children, 9 adults Make peace — mom's dying wish to rebel leader son Zimbabwe judge: Torture can be raised in case Kenyan girls given a chance to dream Africa Section Front   Add Africa headlines to your news reader: