Africa orientale, Somalia, fazioni, Usa Nyt 06-06-06
Gli islamici somali dichiarano vittoria; in fuga i
signori della guerra
MARC LACEY
Sconfitta della strategia USA in Somalia, in un momento di difficoltà
in Irak e di ripresa della guerriglia talebana in Afghanistan.
Le milizie islamiche hanno strappato il controllo della capitale
somala Mogadiscio ai signori della guerra foraggiati dagli USA, al potere da 15
anni; timori che si riproduca la situazione dell’Afghanistan, un gruppo di
guerriglieri legati ad Al-Qaeda avrebbero la copertura dei leader islamici somali.
Le milizie sono alleate delle “Corti islamiche”, una
coalizione lasca di leader religiosi, l’islam è la religione predominante in
Somalia.
Dal 1993 (anno degli scontri con i e della sconfitta
americana con 18 caduti) non esiste in Somalia un governo centrale, si sono
succeduti 14 round negoziali per la pace tutti falliti, con l’ultimo che ha prodotto
un governo di transizione, governo che ha sede a Baidoa, 155 miglia da Mogadiscio,
non avendo la forza di imporsi nella capitale.
Il governo di transizione, appena certo della vittoria degli
islamici, ha aperto il confronto con i nuovi signori di Mogadiscio, licenziando
4 signori della guerra che facevano parte del gabinetto.
L’analista per l’Africa del Congressional Research Service
di Washington spiega che i musulmani in Somalia danno un senso di stabilità e
forniscono servizi sociali, mentre i signori della guerra hanno usato la violenza
sui civili; non ritiene che si profili un potere estremista a Mogadiscio, i
somali sono musulmani laici.
Il diffuso malcontento verso gli Usa e il loro regime fantoccio
ha rafforzato gli islamici, (il presidente dell’Alleanza degli islamici è lo sceicco
Sharif Ahmed); gli islamici hanno avuto l’appoggio del mondo economico che
vogliono porre fine all’arbitrio dei signori della guerra e di pistoleri alla ricerca
di chiunque una paga fissa.
Secondo John Prendergast, dell’International Crisis Group, i finanziamenti USA ammonterebbero a circa $100-150mila
al mese.
L’inviato speciale italiano per la Somalia, Mario Raffaelli:
dobbiamo rivolgerci ai moderati del movimento islamico.
Nyt 06-06-06
Somali
Islamists Declare Victory; Warlords on Run
By MARC LACEY
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 5 —
After months of fierce
fighting, Islamic militias declared Monday that they had taken control of Somalia’s
capital, Mogadishu, defeating the warlords widely believed to be backed by the United States
and raising questions about whether the country would head down an extremist
path.
The battle for Mogadishu
has been a proxy war, of sorts, in the Bush administration’s campaign against
terrorism, with the warlords
echoing Washington’s
goal of rooting out radical Islam and the presence of Al Qaeda in the region.
–
But as the warlords who have ruled over Mogadishu for the last 15 years went on the run on Monday, it appeared that Washington had backed the losing side, presenting the
administration with a major setback at a time of continued sectarian violence
in Iraq and the resurgence
of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
–
One of the warlords, Muse Sudi Yalahow, was holed up in a hospital north of the city on Monday, surrounded
by his enemies. Others fled the capital after their forces had been pushed from
the strategic center, diplomats and local journalists said.
–
The heavily armed militias driving them back are allied
with the Islamic courts that have
grown in influence throughout Somalia
in recent years, filling a void left by the lack of a central government since
1991.
–
The courts are made up of
a loose coalition of religious leaders who have put
forward Islam, the predominant
religion in Somalia,
as the way out of the country’s long decline into anarchy.
On Monday, at least, the capital
appeared to be calm, after hundreds of civilian deaths there in recent months.
"The people of Mogadishu have finally gotten some peace
today," Ali Mohammed, 32, a schoolteacher, said in a telephone interview
from the capital on Monday night. "We’ve had war for so long, and we’re
tired of it."
But he also said he and others feared that the Islamic courts might
clamp down and impose a stricter form of Islam on residents. "We
don’t know what’s next," he said.
–
The United States
has been widely reported to have secretly financed the capital’s warlords, who fashioned themselves into a counterterrorism alliance to track
down and apprehend Al Qaeda elements in Mogadishu.
American officials have said they fear that the country may descend into
a situation similar to that of Afghanistan, where a hard-line Islamist group, the Taliban, seized control of
the country and then gave safe haven to Al Qaeda. Already American officials have said that a
handful of foreign fighters with links to Al Qaeda are being shielded by Mogadishu’s Islamist
leaders.
The spokesman for the State Department,
Sean McCormack, appeared to repeat those concerns at a news briefing on Monday
when asked about the takeover in Mogadishu.
"We don’t want to see Somalia turn
into a safe haven for foreign terrorists," he said. "We do
have very real concerns about that."
But some analysts were not surprised
that the battle for Mogadishu
turned out as it did.
–
"The so-called Islamists
provided a sense of stability in Somalia,
education and other social services, while the warlords maimed and killed
innocent civilians," said Ted
Dagne, the Africa analyst at the Congressional Research Service in Washington.
He expressed doubt that the takeover indicated the rise of extremists in
the capital. "Somalis are secular Muslims, and the
presence of the so-called Islamists is not an introduction of new ideology or
religion," Mr. Dagne said in an e-mail message.
Administration officials have not said
whether American intelligence agents have made payments to the warlords, though
academics, security analysts, politicians in the region and other Africa experts assert that they have. Many in Mogadishu
said the common belief that the United States
was taking sides only strengthened the Islamists, who accused the warlords of
being puppets of Washington.
–
According to one Somalia expert, the amount of payments to the
warlords has increased significantly in the past year. "By our own
estimates, the payments have been between $100,000 and $150,000 per month," said John Prendergast, who monitors Somalia for the
International Crisis Group, a nonprofit research organization.
Initial statements from the Islamists
emphasized a need for dialogue instead of warfare. Since February more than 300 people have been killed
and more than 1,700 injured in what was called the fiercest fighting Mogadishu had seen in the 15 years since Somalia’s
central government collapsed.
"We want to restore peace and
stability to Mogadishu," Sheik Sharif Ahmed, chairman of the
alliance of Islamists, known as the Islamic Courts Union, said
Monday on a radio broadcast, according to The Associated Press. "We are
ready to meet and talk to anybody and any group for the interest of the
people."
Still, he made clear the religious
nature of the rule to come. "We won the fight against the enemy of Islam," he said.
–
Backing the Islamists have been business leaders eager to
end the arbitrary rule of the warlords, as well as freelance gunmen willing to
work for anyone who pays them a salary and supplies them with a daily fix of
khat, the leaf that is widely chewed among Somalis for its stimulant effect.
Now that the Islamists have taken over,
it remains to be seen how they will choose to govern and whether infighting
among them may send the city back into the chaos it has long known.
"We have to appeal to the moderates in this Islamist
movement," said Mario Raffaelli, the Italian special envoy for Somalia.
"We have to make clear that we are supporting the government."
The outcome in Mogadishu has occurred as a transitional government
created after two years of peace talks struggles to establish a toehold in the
country. Based in Baidoa, 155
miles from Mogadishu,
because it lacked the strength to take on the warring gunmen based in the
capital, the government finds
itself negotiating with a new center of power.
–
In a late-night cabinet meeting
on Sunday, as the victory by
the Islamic courts became clear, the government decided to open talks with the
new rulers of Mogadishu.
It also fired the four Mogadishu warlords who
held cabinet positions in the transitional government but had flouted
calls by their colleagues to stop the fighting.
–
The four men are Mohamed
Qanyare Afrah, who was national
security minister; Muse Sudi Yalahow, commerce minister; Botan Isse Alin, demobilization minister; and
Omar Mohamed Mohamud, religious
affairs minister.
The Islamist militias had been slowly gaining control over the capital
for weeks. On Sunday they took over the strategic town of Balad,
20 miles north of Mogadishu,
in fighting that killed 18 people. That cut off the warlords’ northern supply route. Then on Monday the Islamic fighters took
Davniile, the stronghold
of Mr. Qanyare, a major warlord who left the area two days ago after
elders in his clan criticized the heavy civilian casualties that fighting by
his men had caused.
–
Somalia has been without a
central government since the country slipped into civil war more than a decade
ago.
–
An American-led relief effort in 1993, which metamorphosed
into a hunt for one of the warlords whose fighting with one another interfered
with food distribution, ended tragically after 18 American soldiers were killed in a battle made famous by the film "Black Hawk Down."
The United States has largely kept the
country at diplomatic arm’s length ever since, viewing with skepticism the 14 failed rounds of peace
negotiations over the years. The latest one produced an interim
government carefully balanced by clan representation, which has been
urging Washington
to back it more vigorously.
Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington for this
article.
New York Times