(…) for some reason or other, I am a sad exile. In some way or other, our land travels with me and with me too, though, far away, live the longitudinal essence of my country.
Pablo Neruda, 1972.
Click here to view the full report (PDF).
The Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEW) paint a grim prospect for Somalia by saying:
Prospects for the 2006 main “gu†cereal crops, for harvest from August, are poor due to insufficient rains; the rainy season is complete, with patchy results. This would lead to the third consecutive season of below average harvest. Despite some heavy rains at the beginning of the season, large areas in Gedo, Bakol, Hiran, Bay, Lower Shabelle, Lower and Middle Juba, Galgadud, Toghdeer, Sool, Sanaag and Bari received below normal rains (see map). The gu is the main rainy season (April–June) with about 70 to 80 percent of annual cereal production in normal years.
Despite favourable rains in several drought-affected regions of Somalia, the food security situation of about 2.1 million drought-affected people thus remains precarious. Extremely high levels of malnutrition persist in many areas including Gedo, Bakool and Juba Valley. Recent nutrition surveys of these areas found unacceptably high rates of acute malnutrition between 16.2 and 23.8 percent (GAM), with corresponding severe malnutrition rates of 3.7 to 4.2 percent (SAM).
This is one of the tragedies of the Somali political conflict, while the so called “leaders†(Myopic triblists) are bickering among themselves, thousands of Somalis die everyday due to hunger and starvation!
Thilo Thielke of the German Magazine Speigel writes:
(…) Everything changed when the “Supreme Islamic Courts Council” — an Islamic militia — took control of the city more than two months ago. After 15 years of anarchy and civil war, Mogadishu was getting a new lease on life. More than 1,800 women have already joined Allah’s cleaning crews, working hard under the relentless African sun in return for nothing more than a bit of drinking water. And yet more and more volunteers are coming forward to help clean up this ruined city. Young men from other parts of the country are also making their way to the capital to join the holy warriors’ militias. Somalia’s new rulers have even garnered support from abroad. Two aircraft apparently touched down at the city’s international airport two weeks ago with their Kazakh national markings painted over. There have been rumors ever since about the planes’ origin and cargo. Some say neighboring Eritrea sent a shipment of weapons to help Somalia’s Islamists fight their common enemy, Ethiopia. No one really knows. But the city’s decrepit port is expected to resume operations soon.
Well, all Somalis need are honest leadership and little faith in their ability to help themselves! The ICU seems to have provided that!
C. Bryson Hull of the Reuters News Agency writes:
Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, a veterinarian thrust into office two years ago, finds himself clinging to power in the Horn of Africa nation. But whether he stays or goes, many believe he is the pivotal figure in deciding the fate of his fragile administration — the 14th attempt to restore central rule since Somalia fell into anarchy in 1991 after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted. After narrowly surviving a no-confidence vote on July 30, Gedi must name a streamlined cabinet by Monday and deliver on a plan of action to be reviewed in three months under a deal brokered with President Abdullahi Yusuf on Sunday. “Whether he stays is not important. It is whether he creates a competent cabinet,†legislator Abdullahi Haji said in Baidoa, the government’s temporary capital and only stronghold at home.
Interesting perspective… worth reading!
The BBC News reports:
Some Somalis believe the Islamists are too militant Islamic militia have taken control of the central Somali town of Beletuein. The strategic town changed hands after fighting erupted in between the town’s previous pro-government rulers and the militia of a local Islamic court. Tension is high in central Somalia as the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) that controls much of southern Somalia tries to spread its influence further north. Earlier, two were injured in Galkayo in a protest led by clerics who say the UIC’s brand of Islam is too militant. The BBC’s Hassan Barise in Mogadishu says no one was injured in the short battle in the strategically important town of Beletuein, some 300km north of the capital.
I would say, from a patriotic point of view, anyone who stands with the WORST enemy of the Somali Nation must be toppled down! The local administration in Beled Weyne was set up by the now defunct TFG headed by the self declared Ethiopian Viceroy; Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf Axmed. Hence, they were too cosy with the foreign invaders and their puppets in the TFG. I am glad that they are gone. No one will miss them!
The Reuters News Agency reports:
Somalia’s interim cabinet has been dissolved and a new one will be appointed within a week, President Abdullahi Yusuf said on Monday. “The bloated cabinet of (Prime Minister) Ali Mohamed Gedi’s government did not do anything during its tenure,â€Yusuf told parliament. “From today onwards, the government has been dissolved, only the prime minister will remainâ€
Well, this should not surprise anyone at all. The TFG collapsed long time ago and Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf has been trying hard to resuscitate a lifeless government that nobody really cares about. He has also been trying hard to distance himself from Cali Geedi and the rest of failed cabinet in a futile attempt to save himself from eminent political onslaught from the Somali Islamic Courts’ Union. I do not believe that Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf will be able to fool anyone other than himself!
Cabdullaahi Yuusuf had amble opportunities to find lasting political solutions to Somalia’s tragic civil war. The fact is that he failed and he failed miserably on everyone’s eyes! Hence, he is part of Somalia’s biggest problems not part of the solution as he mistakenly believes to be. Therefore, Somalia will be better of if he goes to where he really belongs; Addis Abba! His biggest political aspiration seems to have been to be an Ethiopian Viceroy in Somalia and he did indeed succeed doing that to some extend even though it may not have been long enough for him.
As I have written many times on this page, there is no viable alternative to the rule of the Islamic Courts Union! They must be given a chance to show what they are capable of doing! They succeeded to clean Mogadishu from the tyrany of warlordism. I am sure they will be able to clean the rest of the country including the northern and easter regions!
Click here to view the full dispatch on Reuters.
The Eritrea Daily Newspaper (Online Edition) reports:
Twelve more ministers walked away from the Western-backed weak interim government of Somalia Tuesday, raising fears of imminent collapse of the government, said reports from the area. Minister of Minerals and Water Mohamud Salad Nur and three other assistant ministers announced their resignation less than a week after 18 senior officials also quit, dealing a blow to the fragile interim government. Eight more ministers and assistant ministers later resigned after Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi called for peace talks with rival Islamists, scheduled for this week, to be postponed. “We had no option but to resign because we believe if the talks are postponed again it will affect the reconciliation efforts,” Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Resources Hassan Abshir Farah told Reuters. “Gedi’s government is unpopular among most members of parliament and its work plans will not be accepted by the national assembly,” Water and Mineral Resources Minister Muhamoud Salat Nur told reporters Tuesday.
Let’s face it; there is no viable alternative to the Islamic Courts Union. Hence, they must be allowed to take over the executive branch of the government. The Federal parliament should stay for the time being as a transitional body while the ICU consolidates the control of the country including the northern and eastern regions. Col. Cabdullaahi Yuusuf should go where he belongs; Adis Ababa! Cali Geedi can be allowed to stay in the country and work on animal “behindsâ€.
However, both of them should stand trial for treason once peace is restored through out our beloved country! Anyone who dares to betray the Somali Nation should not go unpunished! Period!
Click here to view the full report on Eritrea Daily.
Speaking to reporters in London, Lord David Triesman; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of the British Foreign Office was quoted as saying:
I think it would be profoundly damaging to the interests of the people of Somalia … were he to be a leading member of government….. It would be unacceptable … for people to seize by force the government of Somalia.
Lord David Triesman went on by saying:
It would be deeply disturbing … if a force led by people who we have good reason to believe were involved with the bombing of embassies in East Africa were the leaders of that government.
I do not think that Lord David Triesman is in a moral position to preach Somalis about their political problems. The question many Somalis are asking is: were was Lord Triesman for past last fifteen years when the Somali people were butchered everyday by the warlords? He is talking like someone who just woke up from a long hibernation! If the truth is to be told, the British government and Lord Triesman were looking the Somali conflict with a blind eye. Indeed, I have sent countless number of emails to Lord Triesman and his office asking him what the British government wanted to do about the tragic Somali civil war. For the record, I never got more than a short reply saying “we are looking into the issueâ€!
Lord Triesman has never been a friend of the Somali people and I believe he will never be for obvious reasons! Therefore, he should leave Somalia to its people and to those others who care about their plight!
Click here to view the full dispatch on the AlertNet. You may also like to click here for more Lord Triesman and Somalia.
In an opinion piece published on today’s Kenya “Daily Nation” newspaper, Ambrose Murunga urges the Kenya government to use force in order to stop the Somali Islamic Courts to complete their quest to free the Somali people from the tyranny of warlordism.
Ambrose Murunga writes:
Kenyan intelligence agencies should be advising the political leadership against allowing the collapse of Somalia’s transitional government. The BBC reports that 20 Cabinet ministers handed tendered in their resignations yesterday.
She concluded by saying:
The Islamic Courts Union is poised to take over, and a radical, theocratic government in our neighborhood is a definite ‘No Way’. It is in the interests of our national security to prevent any such development, by force, if need be.
I think this is at best a sick joke! And at worst it is a dangerous idea from a mind hallucinating with ignorance about the geo-politics and ethnic tensions in that part of the world. Ambrose Murunga and other Kenyans must know that one third of what is now called “Kenya†is a Somali territory under illegal Bantu (Kenyan) occupation. Hence, it is a very dangerous political gamesmanship to advocate ideas that could destabilize in an already volatile region. I understand that Kenyans are very afraid that Somali people under Kenyan occupation will rebel. However preaching hatred is not will fuel more hostilities towards the Kenyans.
Somalis under Kenyan occupation must be allowed to decide their political destiny!
Following is the full piece! (more…)
Alisha Ryu of the Voice of America sent a dispatch from Mogadishu and said:
Nineteen Cabinet ministers in Somalia’s fragile secular interim government in Baidoa resigned Thursday, possibly in an attempt to facilitate a power-sharing deal with rival Islamists. Meanwhile, the Islamists strengthened their grip on power, accepting the peaceful surrender of its last rival secular militia in Mogadishu. The list of those who resigned from Somalia’s U.N.-backed but powerless Transitional Federal Government includes seven ministers, seven assistant ministers, and four state ministers. In a joint letter, the ministers complained that the government lacked transparency and accountability and its leaders had failed to work toward national reconciliation and development since the interim body was formed 19 months ago.
If true this is a courageous act of patriotism. As I wrote before, no self respecting Somali parliamentarian should operation under Ethiopian colonial rule. The TFG must disband as soon as possible so that a care taker government can be installed.
Kuwaiti Times reports:
A mystery cargo plane that landed in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu yesterday has triggered accusations from the interim government that it was carrying weapons from Eritrea to support rival Islamists. In only the second arrival of a plane to Mogadishu’s old international airport since Islamists re-opened it days ago, residents reported seeing a medium-sized aircraft with no recognizable identity land and unload large boxes. “Eritrea has brought to Mogadishu by airplane weapons to support the Islamists,” Somalia’s deputy information minister Salad Ali Jelle told reporters from Baidoa, the provincial base of the fragile transitional government. Islamists blocked the area near the airport to stop residents from finding out about the plane, believed to be carrying guns and explosives, the official said, citing residents’ accounts as his evidence.
The last thing Somalia needs is more arms. We have enough of them!
Click here to view the full report.
The leader of the Somali Union of Islamic Courts was quoted as saying:
We do not negotiate with a Government which is being helped by the enemy of Somalia.
I do not believe this is a wise move!
There should always be an open channel for a political talk between the opposing factions of the Somali bloody conflict. After all, the lives of millions of Somalis are on the line. Indeed, the future of the entire Somali Nation is at stake. Hence, we must look beyond personal difference and work for the common good of our people. Sheekh Sharif Axmed looked like a cool-headed and reasonable man and he must maintain that image by ordering his troops to move out of Bay region. He must also ask his delegates in Khartoum to resume talks with their TFG counterparts.
It goes without saying that the TFG must ask foreign invaders to leave Somali territories they captured and leave Somalia for Somalis! President Cabdullaahi Yuusuf must know that legitimate political power is something that must be earned through the collective will of the Somali people. He must stop acting like an Ethiopian viceroy! He is the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia including Western Somalia (Ogaden) which is under Ethiopian occupation!
Paul Harris of the Observer newspaper in London writes:
Somalia was edging closer to full-scale war last night as Ethiopian troops moved into a second Somali town, potentially bringing them into conflict with an Islamic militia that has taken over the capital, Mogadishu, and is seeking to spread its influence over the rest of the country. Eyewitnesses in Waajid said that about 200 Ethiopian troops had taken over the airstrip in the town yesterday morning. That follows moves last Thursday which saw Ethiopian troops take up positions in the town of Baidoa to back up Somalia’s beleaguered interim government, which is based there.
The Reuters news agency reports:
Arab League diplomats trying to reconcile Somalia’s transitional government with the Islamic leaders who control Mogadishu met representives from both sides in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Thursday, but face-to-face discussions between the two parties were yet to take place, a member of one of the delegations said. Shaykh Bashir Adow, a member of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) delegation, told IRIN that both groups were also scheduled to meet Sudan’s President Umar el-Bashir later on Thursday. “We have had no a face-to-face meeting the TFG (Transitional Federal Government] delegation, but I expect that will happen soon,†he said. Somalia’s interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was leading the TFG delegation, which also included Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi and speaker of the transitional parliament Sharif Hassan Shaykh Aden.
The Arab League and all Arab countries as well as Organization of Islamic States must intervene. They must, first and foremost condemn Ethiopian aggression on Somalia and its people. In short, Somalia must not be left alone for the Ethiopian wolves to feed!
The Ugandese New Vision newspaper says in an editorial:
Ethiopian troops are reported to have entered the Somali town of Baidoa as tensions continue to rise in the Horn of Africa. Though the Addis Ababa government has denied it, various reports indicate that they crossed the border into the city where the Transitional Government is based. The interim Prime Minister has, in the meantime, accused another neighbour, Eritrea, of arming the local forces. Somalia is in chaos again after a new force, the Council of Islamic Courts, took control of the capital Mogadishu, flushing out the warlords who had partitioned the country out among themselves since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
The paper went on by saying:
Now the equation has changed, with the new forces gaining ground all the time and the Ethiopians intervening. The African Union must act expeditiously to defuse a potentially disastrous powder keg. The AU must take a position on Ethiopia’s role; it must work towards reconciling the various local forces. It would be shameful for Somalia to lurch from one form of instability to another as Africa just watches.
Good talk! However, the problem is the fact that the AU is a dysfunctional organization run by depots and dictators!
Click here to view the full editorial column on New Vision.
The South African Pretoria News reports:
Mogadishu - Ethiopian troops in armoured vehicles have rolled into Somalia and set up a camp near the home of the interim president. Residents said the troops arrived yesterday, less than a day after Islamic militants reached the outskirts of the base of a UN-backed, but largely powerless government. A spokesperson for the Ethiopian government had said that his country would protect Somalia’s transitional government from attack by the Somali Islamic militias who control much of southern Somalia. Numerous witnesses said that Ethiopian soldiers arrived yesterday afternoon in Baidoa, the only town held by the government, 240km north-west of Mogadishu and about 150km east of the Ethiopian border. The Ethiopians drove into a fenced compound near the transitional president’s home and Somali militiamen prevented residents from approaching the area, residents said.
Somalis of all walks of life MUST defend their country against the Ethiopian invasion. President Cabdullahi Yusuf never wanted to be more than an Ethiopian Viceroy in Somalia.
Click here to view the full report on Pretoria News.
The United Integrated News service (IRIN NEWS) writes:
The takeover of Mogadishu on 4 June by the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) was the most important political event in Somalia in the last 16 years. It removed a political class of clan-based extortionists and dealers in everything from drugs to people, known as ‘warlords’, which has divided and ruled the country since the collapse of the central state in 1991. Warlordism created one of the world’s most protracted humanitarian crises. In the absence of any significant political, military or humanitarian intervention, Somalia has suffered chronic impoverishment, exodus, displacement and international isolation.
However, the recent military victory by UIC, triggered by popular revolt against the warlords, achieved what international military intervention and peace talks have failed to accomplish since 1991. Unable to neutralise or control the warlords, the international community ultimately resorted to working with them. Fifteen rounds of internationally sponsored peace talks, held externally, in 2004 resulted in the establishment of the present Transitional Federal Government (TFG), headed by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former army colonel.
I am glad to hear that Somalia’s popular Islamic Revolution is getting the recognition it deserves! Nonetheless, I must say that Islamic Courts’ leaders should be prepared to make political concessions with other groups including the TFG if they are really serious about bringing peace and normalcy back to Somalia. They must also convince the world that they mean PEACE!
Click here to view the full dispatch on Reuters’ Alertnet.
According to the BBC News:
IGAD has agreed to send peacekeeping troops to Somalia - but only when it is safe to do so.
Perhaps IGAD officials are getting the message,after all! I have my doubts, let’s wait and see!
Click here to view the full dispatch.
Justin Raimondo of the Anti-War.com has an interested piece on “How we (Americans) messed up Somalia – and paved the way for Islamist domination.†The article has lots of links to references for further reading.
It is a good read..
Click here to view the full article on the Anti-War.Com.
Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, the current chairman of the pan-African body, told a news conference today:
We have decided that the African Union, together with regional groups like IGAD, should take the situation in Somalia in hand.
President Denis Sassou Nguesso went on by saying:
The African Union will give all its support to the interim government, and we invite the international community to join us in supporting them, while favoring internal dialogue in Somalia.
This is, without a doubt, a grave political mistake by an organization run by dictators and oppressors which could have serious security repercussions for Somalia and for its neighbors. Indeed it could inflict damage to the political and security stability of the entire region and to a lesser degree the world as a whole.
Somalia does not need any foreign troops at the moment. The internal political conflict must be resolved by Somalis before armed foreigners can be invited into the country. As Tim Craig of the Washington Post newspaper reported today (see below) the misguided American military involvement in Somalia drastically altered the political landscape in the country-for the worse. A hasty and poorly thought plan to deploy foreign troops into Somalia as peace-keepers will most probably make things much worse. The political fire in Somali does not need more gasoline! Foreign troops must stay out for the moment!
It goes without saying that the fact that the AU will support the TFG is a step in the right direction.
You can click here to view a note I wrote about few days ago
Craig Timberg of the Washington Post writes:
The land was little more than a patch of scrub outside the city. But this being Somalia — lawless, fractured and armed to the teeth — it was a patch of scrub that two of the country’s most powerful families were prepared to fight over. The fighting, which began Jan. 13, quickly took on wider significance because of the presence, at an airstrip just three miles away, of a small team of U.S. intelligence officials, according to Somalis knowledgeable about the events of that day. The Americans were in Somalia because of concerns about terrorism, not land. But when the gunfire rang out, the sources said, the U.S. officials wrongly concluded that they were under attack by Islamic terrorists and abruptly fled. It was a provocation, U.S. officials later told Somalis, that demanded a muscular response. In the weeks that followed this little-known incident, which U.S. officials have refused to confirm or deny, the United States expanded its role in Somalia to levels not seen since it abandoned the country in 1994. The Americans helped organize a group of secular warlords into an “anti-terror coalition” and provided them with a large, steady diet of cash.
This is a very interesting revelation! It seems to me that the Bush administration is making things worse wherever they go. Now we have the Islamic Courts ruling Somalia, thanks to Bush’s misguided foreign policy initiatives.
Click here to view full article. Please note that the Post requires free registration for access.
Al Jazeera; the Pan-Arab Television Network reports:
At least five people have been killed on the edge of the Somali capital after Islamist gunmen attacked two positions held by fighters loyal to a regional commander, militia sources said. In addition to the deaths on Tuesday, at least six people were wounded in the battles, the first clashes around the city since Islamists seized control of Mogadishu this month from a regional commanders alliance thought to be backed by the United States, the sources said. The regional commander whose positions at Lafole village just south of Mogadishu were seized in the fighting, Abdi Hassan Qeybdid, said: “Two of the dead are members of the Somali police and the other three are civilians.â€
Like millions of Somalis both in and outside the country, I am glad to hear Qaybdiid-the murderer got the boot on his bottom!
Click here to view the full news dispatch by Al Jazeera. You also like to click here to view a time-line of the Somali conflict by Al Jazeera.
Charles Onyango-Obbo of the Kenyan Daily Nation newspaper writes:
Everywhere you turn, you are either reading or hearing on TV or radio that the rout of the Somali warlords in Mogadishu by the Islamic Courts Union came as “a surprise”.
The warlords are now dispersed to the far corners of Somalia, leaving the American project of backing their Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism in tatters. There are many who are mourning the fact that the Islamic fundamentalists have won, saying that we are all in danger now. It’s not that simple. What we are witnessing is not the triumph of religious fundamentalism, but the crisis of secularism. Those of us who consider ourselves secularists, the fellows who believe in the separation of religion and state, bear the blame for letting the cause crumble in disgrace. Where secularists have risen to power in Africa and other parts of the Third World promising great change, many have ended up being maniacal butchers and thieves. We have let cherished freedoms degenerate into a bottomless pit of immorality and excess. Which is fine, except that we also don’t expect to pay a price for it.
Interesting perspective, however, what Mr Onyango-Obbo is depicting is, at best, a simplified version of the political realities on the ground in Somalia.
Click here to view the article column on the AllAfrica.com
President Cabdullahi Yuusuf Axmed was quoted as saying:
There is a government in Somalia and as long as the Islamic Court Union recognises the government (…) and if they harbour democratic processes, then we will negotiate and open dialogue with them.
I think the president should be open-minded in terms of engaging a constructive political dialogue with the Islamic Courts. And he should not be making foolish demands that could unnecessarily widen the political gap between the two parties. He must also realize that the political wind in the country is blowing from a different direction. The popular political upraising in Mogadishu cannot and should not be underestimated.
The Islamic Courts have their own issues to deal with but what they have done for the country and for the Somali people in recent weeks is something that neither the TFG nor anyone else could even dare to contemplate on doing it. They ejected the tyrant warlords from Mogadishu and more importantly they brought peace and security to many regions of our beloved country. The undeniable fact is that guns are being silenced for the first time in almost two decades, people are beginning to go about their lives, economic activities are flourishing again and kids are feeling safe enough to play outside. That is a remarkable achievement. Indeed it is an incredible success beyond believe! Who could even imagine this to happen only few weeks ago!
Only the allmighty knows what the Islamic Courts have in store for the Somali people but so far they have been making remarkably conciliatory speeches despite their strong political and military power that made them overnight heroes in the eyes of many Somalis. The President and the TFG must adopt a similar approach by extending an open hand to the Islamic Courts’ leaders.
Its worth noting that Somalia is a Muslim country and a member of the Arab world, we must use these simple facts as guiding principles in our endeavor of find a lasting peace for our country.
Sheekh Cabdulqaadir Cali, vice-chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts was quoted as saying:
We are opposed to any form of foreign military presence in our country. There is no need for them at this time, since the warlords, who were the main obstacle to peace and security in the country, no longer pose any serious threat. With goodwill and dialogue among us [the Somalis], we can solve any remaining minor security issues on our own.
Sheekh Cabdulqaadir Cali went on by saying:
We agreed that priority be given to dialogue, and [this] should take place with the transitional federal institutions and all the parties in Somalia.
I agree entirely with Sheekh Cabdulqaadir Cali that the Somali conflict needs solutions through political dialogue and not through military force.
Timothy Clark; European Union Ambassador to Ethiopia was quoted as saying:
I think we have reached a consensus that we have to move very, very fast on this issue.
Mr. Clark went on by saying:
There is a real sense of urgency that the situation could unravel very, very fast unless there is a muscular response.
Where have the EU been while the situation in Somalia was unraveling for the worst for the past fifteen years? I wonder?
Click here to view the full dispatch on CNN International. You may also like to click here for longer dispatch by the Scotsman Newspaper.
Antonio Guterres; chief of the UNHCR was quoted as saying:
What we appeal to the international community, both in Somalia as in everywhere else, is to do its best to create conditions for a peaceful settlement of the problems and an adequate political solution.
Click here to view article about Antonio Guterres press conference on the Pakistani Daily Times.
The Pan-Arab Al Jazeera Televesion Network reports:
The Islamist alliance that has taken control of key areas of Somalia has said new fighting may occur if Ethiopia refuses to withdraw its troops from the country. However the Somalian government accused the Islamists of lying about an Ethiopian troop incursion as a pretext for attacking the government’s headquarters in the town of Baidoa. Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed, the head of the Joint Islamic Courts, said on Sunday that he had “confirmed” that 300 Ethiopian troops crossed into southwestern Somalia early on Saturday to counter his increasingly powerful group. “We ask them to go (back) to their country, if not their presence will cause a big conflict between the invaders and Somali people,†Ahmed said. The Ethiopian government denies its troops have entered Somalia, saying it had boosted troop levels along the Somali border following provocation from Islamists. A spokesman for the Ethiopia-backed Somali government said the Islamists accusation was “absolutely baselessâ€.
Click here to view the full dispatch on Al Jazeera.