Week deadline is up, fighting started

Salahuddiin · Post by **Salahuddiin** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 5:30 am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6195863.stm

Heavy clashes reported in Somalia

Heavy fighting is being reported on several fronts near the weak Somali interim government's base in Baidoa.
A deadline from Islamists for Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somalia or face "major attacks" expired on Tuesday.

There are fears that all-out war in Somalia would plunge the entire Horn of Africa region into a serious crisis. A European Union envoy in Baidoa has met officials to push for peace between the government and Islamist forces which control much of the country.

"I can confirm to you that heavy fighting has already started around several front line areas," Islamic commander Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal told AFP news agency. Government commander Ibrahim Batari accused the Islamists of mounting the attack.

"There is shelling everywhere...our forces are facing Islamists, hell is going on," he said.

Residents in Islamist held Burhakaba and the government's forward base in Dayunay said heavy shooting had erupted between the the two towns - which is some 25 km (15 miles) southeast of Baidoa

There is also heavy fighting and at least one death being reported near Idale, some 60km south of the town.

'Dialogue'

Mr Michel also plans to travel to the capital, Mogadishu, to meet leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

The BBC's Adam Mynott in Baidoa says the town is in a precarious situation, with guns seen everywhere.

There are soldiers armed with AK-47s, technicals - pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons - and Ethiopian troops at Baidoa airport, he says.

Mr Michel has held talks with Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi, and is meeting with MPs before flying to the capital.

On Tuesday, Ethiopian Information Minister Birhan Hailu told the BBC that his country was always ready for dialogue, but said the Islamists were not willing to talk with the transitional government.

"We don't have troops in Somalia, but as we have said so many times, we have a limited number of military advisers to support the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.

"The Ethiopian government is always ready to have peace talks with anybody in Somalia, and we wish a peaceful solution to the problem in Somalia."

Earlier this week, the UIC appeared to backtrack on an ultimatum for Ethiopians troops to leave Somalia or face a holy war.

UIC spokesman Abdi-Rahiin Ali Mudey said the Islamists would not attack the Ethiopians or Baidoa, but wanted talks.

War

But other Islamist officials are being reported as saying they are "now in the last stages of preparing for full-scale war" against Ethiopian forces inside Somalia.

The government says talks could resume if the Islamists stopped making threats. Last week, interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed ruled out any further talks.

Islamic leaders deny accusations of al-Qaeda links.

Minor clashes have broken out between the two rivals, the most recent in Idale, but neither side has launched a large offensive.

"Last evening, a reconnaissance team from the government and the Islamic courts clashed. But this morning, ground troops from both sides exchanged mortars from a distance," the government's deputy defence minister, Salad Ali Jelle, told Reuteres news agency on Wednesday.

On Saturday, Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said the movement was prepared for "dialogue" with Ethiopia.

In Yemen, he announced a deal with the speaker of the Somali parliament to resume talks after they collapsed last month.

biko · Post by **biko** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 5:47 am

i saw it on aljazeera but just cant understand it why they never mentioned ethiopian army been involved. they keep saying between the islamic court and the government.

Salahuddiin · Post by **Salahuddiin** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:02 am

It depends from who you take the news from. I also saw the Aljazeera report but they only interviewed Salad Cali Jeelle from the TFG.

But who can deny that there are ethiopian troops inside our country when every resident have seen them and now even white european journalists see them with their own eyes.

biko · Post by **biko** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:16 am

its true there is no denying about the presence of ethiopian troops in somalia, but when you see news reporters not mentioning them, it makes you wonder whats their angle. especialy when you got their president making wild claims about the islamic court trying to invade and attack their country without provocation, and to top it all, use the holly quran and the prophet ( saw) forbiding any attack on ethiopia.

Jeffrey Dahmer · Post by **Jeffrey Dahmer** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:31 am

Biko, that's because the Ethiopians haven't fully joined the war yet. It is a well known fact that Ethiopians do not want to fight the ICU side-by-side with the government troops.

Salahuddiin · Post by **Salahuddiin** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:35 am

Yeah bro everybody have their own point of view in this situation so it's better to get information from everywhere and then make your own conclusion.

If an ethiopian representative really said that it's forbidden in Islam to attack Ethiopia it just shows how afraid they are of the evolving situation. That sounds really funny.

biko · Post by **biko** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:37 am

Jeffrey Dahmer

i find that hard to believe, cos it became a common knowledge that the TFG's balls is the ethiopian troops and without them they would be a old news by now. people would be talking aabout them like its a myth... Laughing

a bed time story for the kids; once upon a time there use to be.. Laughing

Steeler [Crawler2] · Post by **Steeler [Crawler2]** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:56 am

Anyone got any recent information on who is controlling what ground right now, or the orders of battle for the ICU and TFG???

Post by **AbdiWahab252** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:01 am

MAD... No confirmed reports. The UIC are in control of most of the media in Somalia so expect to hear a more UIC slanted assessment.

biko · Post by **biko** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:07 am

[quote="AbdiWahab252"]MAD... No confirmed reports. The UIC are in control of most of the media in Somalia so expect to hear a more UIC slanted assessment.[/quote]
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An excuse is worse than a lie, for an excuse is a lie, guarded.

Laughing

highclass · Post by **highclass** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:09 am

[quote="AbdiWahab252"] The UIC are in control of most of the media in Somalia[/quote]

Laughing

Wake up man.

Post by **AbdiWahab252** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:11 am

HighClass:

Shabelle News, HornAfrik, Dayniile, SimbaNews & Waagacusub (forced to be UIC), etc

Steeler [Crawler2] · Post by **Steeler [Crawler2]** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:10 am

Do we have hard info here? Anyone hearing anything from relatives in Baidoa?

I guess we'll know soon enough when the dust clears. I don't see how Baidoa can survive, but we'll see. The Ethiopians should use this moment to seize Belet Weyne.

COSTA · Post by **COSTA** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:15 am

^^Thats what will happen and they have to take Guriceel the bastars hometown and show how women and children suffer