QANYARE SAID NO MORE WARLORD NO MORE BARRE HIIRAALE

[Ugaas Diini]

Wixii the Paltalk Heartbreaker la murmo ayaaba ka daran.

[fagash_killer]

we are back to 2006

i got great respect for this guy

Former warlord calls government control of Somali capital an illusion

The Associated Press
Sunday, December 31, 2006

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Mohamed Qanyare Afrah was once among the handful of warlords who ruled this city. For more than 10 years, he had thousands of militiamen under his control, keeping an iron grip on the southern part of Somalia's seaside capital.

With no effective government in Somalia, Afrah and warlords like him acted as Mogadishu's leaders, judges, jailers and executioners, until they were driven from the capital by Islamic militants six months ago.

Last week, a newly powerful Somali government retook Mogadishu, with the help of Ethiopian troops. And now, Afrah is back — suggesting that the age of the warlords may not quite be over.

"I have 1,500 militiamen under my control," Afrah told The Associated Press on Sunday from the home he returned to on Friday, a compound teeming with weapons, including 12 armored vehicles mounted with double-barreled anti-aircraft guns. "And why not? An angry man is an angry man. We need to protect ourselves."

Many nervous residents in Mogadishu have reported seeing freelance gunmen roaming the streets again — a sight that had all but vanished under the Council of Islamic Courts, which brought a semblance of control but also terrified Somalis with its severe interpretation of Islam and violent punishments.

One man, who refused to give his name for fear of retribution, said he no longer felt comfortable walking around the city since the government took over, saying they do not have enough power to keep the peace.

"The warlords are coming back," he said.

Afrah, in his first interview with the international media since June, said government control of Mogadishu was only an illusion, and that any military advances it made were due to the help of neighboring Ethiopia, the region's military powerhouse.

"If Ethiopian forces pull out tomorrow, (the Islamists) will come back the following day. I guarantee you," said Afrah, who was casually dressed in a red-and-white striped shirt and traditional Somali wrap.

He said he believed "100 percent" that the Islamists were still in Mogadishu, in hiding, and would launch "urban guerrilla warfare — land mines, explosives. People will live in terror and fear."

The government insists it has control of the city, but has appealed for peacekeepers.

Afrah had led a U.S.-backed warlord alliance against the Islamic movement until its defeat in June.

The warlords, most clan based, ruled the African nation of 8 million after overthrowing longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They divided the country into a patchwork of rival fiefdoms, plunging the country into chaos.

Two years ago, the transitional government was set up with the help of the United Nations, but failed to assert any real control until last week, after Ethiopia stepped in.

The government has had trouble gaining popular support, as its members include some former warlords — including Afrah, a member of Parliament.

His criticisms Sunday suggested that the administration, long riven by infighting, is still fractured despite its military gains.

Afrah said he wanted to see the city disarmed, but would not tell his militiamen to surrender their weapons unless a bill was passed through Parliament stating the government's specific aims.

He also said Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi's statement Saturday that he expected to disarm Mogadishu within three weeks was wishful thinking, but he would not comment on how his militiamen would react if Gedi tried forcefully to disarm them.

"From Somaliland to Kismayo, the guns are everywhere," Afrah said. "But the word of one man with one microphone cannot solve this."