Somali Islamists yesterday declared victory over a US-backed warlord alliance and prepared to take over Mogadishu after four months of bloody fighting for control of the lawless capital.
Having captured nearly all of Mogadishu and a key warlord supply line on its northern outskirts at the weekend, the Islamists said elders were formalizing the seizure in a meeting with remnants of the alliance.
In a statement read over local radio stations, the chairman of the city's Joint Islamic Courts, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, said 15 years of warlord control of Mogadishu was over and urged residents to accept the new leadership.
"The Joint Islamic Courts are not interested in a continuation of hostilities and will fully implement peace and security after the change has been made by the victory of the people with the support of Allah," he said.
"The JIC will take care of the safety of the people and freedom of individuals and will eradicate any sort of hostilities brought about by inter-clan fighting," Ahmed said.
At least 347 people have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded, many of the civilians, in fierce battles between the Islamists and the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) since February.
The alliance was created that month with US support in a bid to curb the growing influence of Mogadishu's 11 Islamic courts and hunt down extremists, including al-Qaeda members they are accused of harboring.
The courts, which have repeatedly denied the charges, had declared a holy war against the ARCPT and denounced its funding by the US, which clerics assailed as an "enemy of Islam."
Washington never publicly confirmed or denied its support for the alliance but US officials have told the press they have given the warlords money and intelligence help to rein in "creeping Talibanization" in Somalia.
The Horn of Africa nation was plunged into anarchy with the 1991 ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre and analysts have long warned it could become a hotbed for radical Islam along the lines of Afghanistan.
After railing against US support for the warlords at rallies in which US President George W. Bush was compared to a Nazi, Ahmed's victory declaration yesterday appeared to contain the hint of an olive branch to his foes.
"We are not against any group and will deal with the outside world in a manner that takes the interests of our country and people into account first," he said.
The announcement came as court representatives met with elders to discuss the handover of checkpoints, weapons and vehicles held by gunmen loyal to alliance members Musa Sudi Yalahow and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid.
"The negotiations are progressing and by the will of Allah they will bring something by today or tomorrow that will mark the official end of violence," one senior Islamist official said.
A third warlord, Bashir Raghe Shirar, had yet to agree to the talks, the official said, and analysts caution that the Islamist seizure of Mogadishu could herald yet a new round of fighting.
It was not clear when the transfer would be complete.
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