Somalia's government, reinforced by Ethiopian troops, called on a rival Islamic movement to surrender yesterday and promised the militants amnesty after they attempted to take control of the country, a spokesman said.
Government and Ethiopian troops will not persecute Islamists for their beliefs, if they lay down their weapons and stop opposing the internationally-backed government, said Abdirahman Dinari, the government spokesman.
"We call call for the Islamic courts militia to surrender to the government before they are punished by the government," Dinari said from Baidoa, the seat of the government in central Somalia.
PHOTO: AFP
Islamic fighters were in a tactical retreat yesterday, said Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, leader of the Council of Islamic Courts' executive body. Government and Ethiopian troops advanced on three fronts in a decisive turnaround in the battle for control of Somalia.
John Prendergast, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group, said the war "dangerously escalates regional tensions and leaves the Horn of Africa less secure than it has been in a long time."
The African Union, Arab League and a regional group known as IGAD, were scheduled to take up Somalia at meeting today designed to resume the peace process.
But Ahmed rejected any suggestion of resuming peace talks and appeared unbowed by his group's losses.
"We have asked our troops to withdraw from some areas," he said. "The war is entering a new phase. We will fight Ethiopia for a long, long time and we expect the war to go everyplace."
Ahmed declined to explain is comments in greater detail, but some Islamic leaders have threatened a guerrilla war to include suicide bombings in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
Islamic troops withdrew more than 80km to the southeast from Daynuney, a town just south of Baidoa. The retreat along the western front follows the bombing by Ethiopian jets of the country's two main international airports.
Advancing government and Ethiopian troops captured Bur Haqaba, one of the Islamists' main bases, after it was abandoned early yesterday.
"We woke up from our sleep this morning and the town was empty of troops, not a single Islamic fighter," Ibrahim Mohamed Aden, a resident of Bur Haqaba said.
Islamic fighters were also reportedly retreating on two other fronts. On the southern front, government troops captured Dinsor, Dinari said.
On the northern front, government and Ethiopian troops entered the town of Bulo Barde, where just two weeks ago an Islamic cleric said anyone who did not pray five times a day would be executed. Government and Ethiopian troops were headed for Jowhar, 90km north of Mogadishu, after driving Islamic troops from Bandiradley, Adadow and Galinsor.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced on Sunday that he had sent troops into Somalia to fight international terrorists, defend Ethiopian interests and prop up the besieged UN-backed government, which only has a very small military force.
But Meles has said he does not intend to keep his forces in Somalia for long, perhaps only a few weeks. He said he would not send troops into Mogadishu, but instead encircle the city to contain the Islamic forces.
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