Somalia rivals to form unified army

Somalia’s virtually powerless government and an Islamic militia that has seized control of much of southern Somalia have signed an agreement to eventually form a unified national army.

The deal, which came after two days of peace talks in Sudan, did not specify when the agreement would take effect. Talks were to resume on October 30 in Khartoum.

“The Islamic courts have met the expectations of our people,” said Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, one of several deputy prime ministers in the government.

Both sides also agreed to form a peace committee in order to determine how to implement the plan.

Ibrahim Hassan Adow, who signed on behalf of the Islamic courts, said: “We are pleased we came to this agreement within two days.”

Another major point was that the Islamic courts will not take any more territory and will instead wait for the October 30 talks. Both sides also agreed to stop the use of propaganda against each other.

It was the first time they agreed to form a national army.

Somalia’s parliament has endorsed a security plan drawn up by President Abdullahi Yusuf’s government that includes a role for a regional peacekeeping mission.

A coalition of east African nations will discuss peacekeepers in Somalia on Tuesday at a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. The group, known as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, mediated talks four years ago that led to the formation of Somalia’s government.

Adow, the Islamic group’s foreign affairs chief, said over the weekend that foreign interference would be “a recipe for the renewal of civil war,” alluding to reports that Ethiopian troops had taken up position in three Somali towns to protect the government.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, pulling the country into anarchy.

The current government was established two years ago with the support of the United Nations, but it has failed to assert any power outside its base in Baidoa, which is 150 miles from the capital, Mogadishu.

Yesterday, five people were killed in Baidoa when government forces took control of the airport from a clan-based militia, government officials said.

Clerics and militiamen set up a network of Islamic courts in a bid to restore order by enforcing Islamic law, sparking fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. In June, they swept through Somalia, seizing control of much of the south, including the capital, Mogadishu.

The Islamic group has brought a semblance of order to a country that has seen little more than anarchy in years. Mogadishu’s airport and seaport have reopened after 11 years, and on Sunday the UN’s World Food Program sent a ship carrying cereal, oil and other staple foods.

“The reopening of the port makes it easier for us to reach more than 1 million people across the country who rely on our assistance,” said WFP Somalia Acting Country Director Leo van der Velden. The shipment followed a series of meetings on security and other issues between officials of the UN and the Islamic group.

Somalia’s government and the Islamists held talks in June, but failed to resume them in July as planned.

Yusuf’s representatives have said they are open to the Islamic leaders being part of the government but only under a clan-based formula that was used to form the government and parliament. The formula was not based on what territory leaders held but on what clan they belong to.