Somalia braces for war as 200 troops defect

NEARLY 200 troops serving Somalia’s weak Western-backed government defected to the Islamic courts movement, an Islamic official said yesterday, as both sides braced for impending war.

Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal, head of the Islamic court in the Al-Bayan region, said the troops switched sides there late Saturday. Mr Bilal said the former government soldiers “are ready to be incorporated into the Islamic courts forces”.

The court movement has promised to launch a holy war tomorrow unless troops from neighbouring Ethiopia, who are supporting the government, leave Somalia. Islamic fighters have surrounded the southern Sudanese town of Baidoa, the only town the government controls.

Al-Bayan, where the defections are said to have taken place, is about 50 miles from Baidoa.

The government denied Mr Bilal’s claim. “The government has 6,000 strong soldiers who are well trained and well disciplined,” said Salad Ali Jelle, the deputy defence minister.

Tensions have mounted in recent weeks between the government, which has international recognition but little actual authority, and the Islamic courts, which appears to have broad popular support in the strongly Muslim country.

Islamic movement leaders are outraged by the presence of troops from Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation.

Ethiopia fears the emergence of a neighbouring Islamic state and acknowledges sending military advisers to aid Somalia’s government, but denies sending combat forces.

The United States has said the Islamic movement has links to al-Qaida, an accusation Islamic leaders have repeatedly denied.

Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Experts fear the conflict in Somalia could engulf the volatile Horn of Africa. A recent UN report said 10 nations have been sending weapons to the warring sides.