Somali, Ethiopian troops take Islamist stronghold

From: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/01/01/mogadishu.somalia.ap/index.html

January 1, 2007

KISMAYO, Somalia (AP) -- A militant Islamist movement fled into a rugged, forested corner of Somalia from rapidly advancing government forces on Monday, as the prime minister offered the Islamist rank and file amnesty if they surrendered.

Diplomats from the region were working to arrange the speedy deployment of African peacekeepers to help the interim government establish its authority in the country, which has known only anarchy for 15 years.

As the last remaining stronghold of the Islamic group was overrun by government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks and MiG fighter jets, the net began closing on suspected al Qaeda fighters believed to be sheltered by the hardline group.

Neighboring Kenya vowed to seal its frontier to prevent any extremists, now wedged against the sea and their border, from escaping the 13-day military offensive.

Sea routes from southern Somalia were also being patrolled by the U.S. Navy, hunting three al Qaeda suspects believed to be among the Islamic group and wanted for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.

"Kenya cannot be a haven for people who are not wanted by their lawful government," Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Matua said in a statement on Monday.

The military advance marks a stunning turnaround for Somalia's government, which just weeks ago could barely control one town -- its base of Baidoa -- while the Council of Islamic Courts controlled the capital and much of southern Somalia.

But with the intervention of Ethiopia, which has one of Africa's largest armies, the Islamic group has been forced from the capital, Mogadishu, and other key towns in the past 10 days. Its casualties run into the thousands, Ethiopia said.

Yet it does not mark the end of the Islamists or their ultimate defeat. The group has promised to wage an Iraq-style guerrilla war if defeated and a woman was killed Sunday in a mysterious blast in the capital.

Diplomats want the peacekeeping force to replace the muscle of Ethiopia, a Christian country long despised in Muslim Somalia. Both countries have fought two wars, the last in 1977 and Somalia lays claim to territories in Ethiopia.

In a bid to cement its control, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi ordered a countrywide disarmament that comes into effect Tuesday, an immense task in Somalia, which is awash with weapons after more than a decade of civil war.

"The warlord era in Somalia is now over," Gedi said at a news conference in the recently captured capital, giving a three-day deadline for the handing over of all weapons. Somali warlords, who have begun returning to Mogadishu after the Islamists defeat, have not yet voiced agreement.

The Islamic forces in the coastal stronghold Kismayo began to disintegrate after a night of artillery attacks at the front line and following a mutiny within their ranks, witnesses said. They have fled to a base near the Kenyan border on a small peninsula called Ras Kamboni, where there is a pier for traditional oceangoing boats known as dhows.

Ethiopian MiG fighter jets flew low over the ocean looking for boats that might be carrying the escaping Islamic fighters.

Just six months ago the Islamic group defeated a U.S.-backed alliance of Somali warlords controlling Mogadishu and then swept through much of southern Somalia. With them came a semblance of order in this chaotic country but also a strict and often severe interpretation of Islam which raised memories of Afghanistan's Taliban.

Somalia's interim government and its Ethiopian allies have long accused Islamic militias of harboring al Qaeda, and the U.S. government has said the 1998 bombers have become leaders in the Islamic movement in Africa.

"If we capture them alive we will hand them over to the United States," Gedi said.

Islamic movement leaders deny having any links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network.

But in a recorded message posted on the Internet on Saturday, deputy al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Somalia's Muslims and other Muslims worldwide to continue the fight against "infidels and crusaders."

Gedi also appealed for humanitarian aid for his country and repeated calls for an African Union peacekeeping force.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, in his New Year's message, called for an urgent summit of the east African regional body IGAD to discus the Somali crisis.

Uganda said it had a battalion of 1,000 troops ready to deploy in a few days. Nigeria has also promised troops, Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said.