Somalia warlords flee stronghold

MOGADISHU – Four Somali warlords who lost a bloody power struggle with Islamist militia have fled from their last stronghold, while a key ally also left their camp, officials said yesterday.

The moves out of Jowhar town were the latest blows to the self-styled coalition of anti-terrorism warlords – widely believed to have been backed by Washington – who this month lost Mogadishu after lording over it for 15 years. Colonel Abdi Hassan Awale, a former Somalia police chief, said in the capital Mogadishu that his clan elders had convinced him to stop fighting on the side of the warlords to end further bloodshed.”I have decided to give up my membership in the anti-terror alliance after pressure coming from my clan,” Awale said.His four counterparts who had taken refuge in Jowhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu, fled late on Tuesday as militia loyal to the Islamic courts approached.Abdulahi Dahir, one of the administrators in Jowhar, told Reuters that former ministers Bootan Isse Alim and Mohamed Qanyare had taken off from their base in Jowhar accompanied by two other lesser-known warlords.Brief fighting was reported about 15km outside Jowhar town overnight.Sources said the four warlords had moved towards the central regions of Eldur where their clans were based.The Islamic courts militia have told the United States that they are not Washington’s enemies, but the Bush administration is taking a cautious approach to the courts’ new prominence.The warlords are looking increasingly isolated, analysts say, though some have threatened to fight their way back.Militia loyal to Islamic courts seized Mogadishu earlier this month after battles which killed at least 350 people, in some of the worst violence seen there since the 1991 ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre ushered in an era of anarchy.- Nampa-ReutersColonel Abdi Hassan Awale, a former Somalia police chief, said in the capital Mogadishu that his clan elders had convinced him to stop fighting on the side of the warlords to end further bloodshed.”I have decided to give up my membership in the anti-terror alliance after pressure coming from my clan,” Awale said.His four counterparts who had taken refuge in Jowhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu, fled late on Tuesday as militia loyal to the Islamic courts approached.Abdulahi Dahir, one of the administrators in Jowhar, told Reuters that former ministers Bootan Isse Alim and Mohamed Qanyare had taken off from their base in Jowhar accompanied by two other lesser-known warlords.Brief fighting was reported about 15km outside Jowhar town overnight.Sources said the four warlords had moved towards the central regions of Eldur where their clans were based.The Islamic courts militia have told the United States that they are not Washington’s enemies, but the Bush administration is taking a cautious approach to the courts’ new prominence.The warlords are looking increasingly isolated, analysts say, though some have threatened to fight their way back.Militia loyal to Islamic courts seized Mogadishu earlier this month after battles which killed at least 350 people, in some of the worst violence seen there since the 1991 ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre ushered in an era of anarchy.- Nampa-Reuters