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Gunfire and looting as Islamic fighters leave Mogadishu

Somalia's Islamic movement abandoned the nation's capital Mogadishu and clan militiamen poured into the streets yesterday, looting the bases of the departing fighters.

Government forces came to within 30km of Mogadishu, vowing to take the capital. Clan leaders, though, have the greatest influence over whether order or chaos follows the retreat of the Islamic movement known as the Council of Islamic Courts.

A courts leader, meanwhile, said the battle for Somalia was not over.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf said in a statement yesterday afternoon that his troops on the outskirts of the capital were not a threat to the city's people.

"The government is committed to solving every problem that may face Somalia through dialogue and peaceful ways," the statement said. "I would want to reassure the Somali people that we are tirelessly working toward the salvation or our nation and the restoration of your dignity and honor."

Abdirahman Janaqow, a top leader in the Islamic movement, said he had ordered his forces out of Mogadishu to avoid bloodshed in the capital.

"We want to face our enemy and their stooges ... away from civilians," Abdirahman Janaqow said in a telephone interview.

Janaqow's movement had appeared unstoppable since taking Mogadishu six months ago. Then Ethiopian troops went on the attack in support of the government last week.

Yusuf Ibrahim, a former Islamic movement fighter who quit yesterday, said only the most hardcore fighters were still opposing the government and its Ethiopian backers. He numbered them at about 3,000, and said they were headed to the port city of Kismayo, south of Mogadishu.

More than 20 fighting vehicles loaded with Islamic militiamen arrived in Kismayo early yesterday. Clan leaders there called for Ahmed Madobe, the governor of Kismayo, to surrender to government forces, but he refused, said relatives, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

Other witnesses reported seeing a large number of foreign fighters in the convoys heading south. Islamic movement leaders had called on foreign Muslims to join their "holy war" against Ethiopia, which has backed the government.

Hundreds were believed to have answered the call.

Ethiopia has said it would not enter Mogadishu. Before the Islamists established control, Mogadishu had been ruled by competing clans who came together to support the Islamic courts. Now, the clans could return to fighting one another and may reject the government's authority.

Yesterday in Mogadishu, gunfire echoed through the streets. Most of the shooting and looting was coming from northern neighborhoods, which are Abgal clan strongholds. The competition for control of Mogadishu since 1991 has involved the Abgal and Habr Gadir clans.

Salad Gabayre, a clan militia commander in the Sinai district, said elders were calling for their young men to form into militias to protect their neighborhoods.
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