Somalia’s Government Offers Amnesty to Rebel Fighters Still in Mogadishu
Somalia’s government offered a general amnesty to Islamic insurgents still in Mogadishu, three days after their al-Shabaab movement withdrew from the capital.
The offer was decided on at a Cabinet meeting to discuss the security situation in Mogadishu following the rebels’ Aug. 6 pullout, Somalia’s Western-backed government said in an e-mailed statement today.
The state will “guarantee the safety of any al-Shabaab who complies with the call immediately,” the government spokesman, Abdiraham Omar Osman, said in a phone interview today from the city. “They should exploit this golden opportunity.”
Al-Shabaab, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, has waged a four-year insurgency against the administration of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and controls most of southern and central Somalia. The rebel group’s withdrawal comes after the United Nations declared a famine in five regions of the country amid the worst drought in 60 years.
Al-Shabaab’s withdrawal was a “tactical” move, spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said on Aug. 6 in comments aired on Holy Quran Radio, a Mogadishu-based broadcaster.
The militants’ decision to quit Mogadishu was a “tremendous step forward for the nation,” the government said today. It urged Somalis to work with the government to secure the city.
Mogadishu is still under threat even though as much as 95 percent of its area has been “liberated” since the withdrawal of al-Shabaab, the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, also known as Amisom, said in an e-mailed statement today.
More Troops
The force said it needs more troops as well as funds for coastal forces and helicopters as it tries to smooth the way for aid deliveries and avert attacks.
“The concern is that insurgents will seek to focus their efforts on an asymmetric campaign, threatening the government, the security of the civilian populace and humanitarian relief efforts,” Amisom said.
The United Nations last year authorized an increase in the number of African Union peacekeepers in Somalia to 12,000, up from 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers now. The 53-member African bloc wants the operation to expand to 20,000 troops.
Somalia has been mired in a civil war for two decades and hasn’t had a functioning central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
The Cabinet also agreed to establish a special-forces unit to maintain law and order in areas abandoned by the rebel fighters until the Somali police force can fully take over, according to the statement.
The government pledged to “ensure that all criminal activities will be dealt with swiftly by the courts in order to deter any attempts of hindering the on-going security operations.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Hamsa Omar in Mogadishu via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Rate this Page