Warlords and extremists fight it out in Mogadishu

Businessmen, clan elders and moderate religious leaders shuttled between secular warlords and Islamic extremists in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, trying to broker a ceasefire as the death toll from four days of fighting reached 96.

The fighting has escalated steadily since Sunday, when the extremists, which have alleged ties to al-Qaida, and the warlords, linked to the US, took up strategic positions in Mogadishu.

Most victims in the recent fighting have been civilians caught in the crossfire. Nearly 200 people have been wounded in the fighting, doctors have said.

Heavy weapons fire echoed through the city as the fighting spread to another Mogadishu neighbourhood.

The battle between the Islamic Court Union and the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-terrorism has centred on the northern neighbourhood of Sii-Sii, with neither side gaining an advantage.

Abdulahi Shir’wa, a civil leader, said yesterday that neutral groups were meeting the leaders of the two militias to negotiate another ceasefire, but so far without success.

Abdinura Siad, an alliance militia commander, met clan elders on Monday afternoon.

“The alliance is not satisfied with the current mediating efforts. Those who are mediating are biased,” he said. ”The Islamists should stop fighting. Then, we can stop. We are only defending ourselves.”

For a second day, Islamic Court Union chairman Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said he was ready to observe a ceasefire.

“From now on we are going to cease fire because this is good for everybody,” he said.

Meanwhile, The UN Security Council ignored recommendations for targeted sanctions and a tighter existing arms embargo in Somalia, despite a spike in violence and fears that Islamic fundamentalists have gained strength in the chaotic nation.

The recommendations had come from one of the council’s own committees, which warned that warlords in Somalia routinely violate the current arms embargo and have enriched themselves by selling fishing licenses and exporting charcoal.

The council committee said in a report released early yesterday that the influence of the Islamic fundamentalists was great now that they are a “third force” on par with the transitional government and an alliance of groups in the capital, Mogadishu.

Those fundamentalists have gained the “backing and military capability to be a credible contender for power in Somalia”, the committee said.