AFRICA/SOMALIA - Fragile treaty in Mogadishu following five days of intense fighting; population in flight

Monday, 2 April 2007

Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides)- People are at last coming out to bury the dead after five days of intense fighting in Mogadishu between Ethiopian army troops backed by Transition government soldiers and militia of the Islamic Courts (see Fides 31 March 2007).
The cease fire was negotiated with the help of traditional chiefs of the Hawiye clan, the majority clan in Somalia. The treaty appears fragile and many have taken the opportunity to move to a safer place. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in the past ten days about 47,000 people have abandoned Mogadishu. Foreign press reports the arrival of hundreds of soldiers to reinforce the Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu.
The fighting in the capital was the most violent in the past 15 years. Hundreds were killed although it is impossible to give a precise number. One of those killed was a Ugandan member of the African Union peacekeeping mission, shot dead while on guard in front of the President’s palace. The AU peacekeeping force consists at the moment of only 1,200 Ugandan troops out of a total 8,000 supplied by various different countries.
To try to resolve the crisis the international contact group for Somalia will meet on 3 April in Cairo, Egypt. The group includes representatives of EU, AU, Arab League and Britain, Italy, Norway, Sweden, United States. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 2/4/2007 righe 24 parole 272)


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