.Islamists claim Mogadishu victory
An Islamist militia says it has seized Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after weeks of fighting against an alliance of warlords allegedly backed by the US.
The warlords have controlled the capital since they toppled Somalia's last effective government 15 years ago.
Talks are taking place with fighters still loyal to the warlords, saidUnion of Islamic Court officials.
Interim Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi says his government wants to begin dialogue with the group.
Earlier Mr Ghedi sacked four powerful warlords who had been serving as ministers.
Nine of the 11 Mogadishu-based warlords have now left the city, reports the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan.
The four ministers include Security Minister Mohammed Qanyare Afrah and Trade Minister Muse Sudi Yalahow who over the weekend lost control of their Mogadishu strongholds.
This year's clashes in the capital have been the most serious for more than a decade, with some 330 people killed in the past month.
Warlords retreat
In a statement read over local radio stations, the Union of Islamic Courts leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said the control of Mogadishu by warlords was over and he urged residents to accept the new leadership.
"The Union of 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.
"This is a new era for Mogadishu," he told AFP news agency.
He said they were ready for dialogue.
On Saturday, UN aid workers pulled out of Jowhar, some 90km north of Mogadishu, in case the fighting spreads there.
Islamists
The violence began earlier this year when a group of warlords, who had divided Mogadishu into fiefdoms, united to form the Anti-Terrorism Alliance to tackle the Islamic Courts, who they accused of sheltering foreign al-Qaeda militants.
The Islamic Courts deny this. They were originally set up in Mogadishu as a grassroots movement by businessmen to establish some law and order in a city without any judicial system.
Their stated goal is to restore a system of Sharia law in the city. Last month in Mogadishu a teenager stabbed his father's killer to death before a large crowd, after a death sentence was passed.
The head of the BBC's Somali service described the rise of the Islamic Courts group as a popular uprising.
The Islamic Courts have long said the warlords in the Anti-Terror Alliance were being backed by the US.
Washington merely says it will support those trying to stop people it considers terrorists setting up in Somalia but stresses its commitment to the country's transitional government, which functions from Baidoa, 250km (155 miles) north-west of the capital.
Analysts say it is not entirely certain where the Islamic Courts militia has obtained its substantial weaponry and financing - some fingers have pointed towards Saudi Arabia, others to wealthy foreign supporters of Islamic militancy.
But they have also had the support of many Mogadishu citizens, desperate to back anybody able to re-establish order.
President Abdullahi Yusuf had urged the US to channel its campaign against Somalia's Islamists through his government, rather than the warlords and came under heavy pressure from some MPs to sack the warlords because of the fighting in Mogadishu.
BBC
Another great victory in the war on terror from the current administration. Why aren't they giving a big speech under a victory banner?
The warlords have controlled the capital since they toppled Somalia's last effective government 15 years ago.
Talks are taking place with fighters still loyal to the warlords, saidUnion of Islamic Court officials.
Interim Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi says his government wants to begin dialogue with the group.
Earlier Mr Ghedi sacked four powerful warlords who had been serving as ministers.
Nine of the 11 Mogadishu-based warlords have now left the city, reports the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan.
The four ministers include Security Minister Mohammed Qanyare Afrah and Trade Minister Muse Sudi Yalahow who over the weekend lost control of their Mogadishu strongholds.
This year's clashes in the capital have been the most serious for more than a decade, with some 330 people killed in the past month.
Warlords retreat
In a statement read over local radio stations, the Union of Islamic Courts leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said the control of Mogadishu by warlords was over and he urged residents to accept the new leadership.
"The Union of 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.
"This is a new era for Mogadishu," he told AFP news agency.
He said they were ready for dialogue.
On Saturday, UN aid workers pulled out of Jowhar, some 90km north of Mogadishu, in case the fighting spreads there.
Islamists
The violence began earlier this year when a group of warlords, who had divided Mogadishu into fiefdoms, united to form the Anti-Terrorism Alliance to tackle the Islamic Courts, who they accused of sheltering foreign al-Qaeda militants.
The Islamic Courts deny this. They were originally set up in Mogadishu as a grassroots movement by businessmen to establish some law and order in a city without any judicial system.
Their stated goal is to restore a system of Sharia law in the city. Last month in Mogadishu a teenager stabbed his father's killer to death before a large crowd, after a death sentence was passed.
The head of the BBC's Somali service described the rise of the Islamic Courts group as a popular uprising.
The Islamic Courts have long said the warlords in the Anti-Terror Alliance were being backed by the US.
Washington merely says it will support those trying to stop people it considers terrorists setting up in Somalia but stresses its commitment to the country's transitional government, which functions from Baidoa, 250km (155 miles) north-west of the capital.
Analysts say it is not entirely certain where the Islamic Courts militia has obtained its substantial weaponry and financing - some fingers have pointed towards Saudi Arabia, others to wealthy foreign supporters of Islamic militancy.
But they have also had the support of many Mogadishu citizens, desperate to back anybody able to re-establish order.
President Abdullahi Yusuf had urged the US to channel its campaign against Somalia's Islamists through his government, rather than the warlords and came under heavy pressure from some MPs to sack the warlords because of the fighting in Mogadishu.
BBC
Another great victory in the war on terror from the current administration. Why aren't they giving a big speech under a victory banner?
posted by madtom at 9:17 AM
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