Mogadishu 26, June.07 ( Sh.M.Network) -Former Somalia’s defense minister, Col. Barre Aden Hirale, said he was determined to be impartial in the ongoing political challenge and gun battles between his Marehan sub-clan and Majerteen in the port city of Ksimayu, 500 kilometers south of the Somalia capital, Mogadishu.
In an interview with Shabelle on Tuesday, Hirale, who now lives in his home town of Bardheere in Gedo province, near the Kenyan border, said he believed that some of the T.F.G officials were not honest and neutral in the ongoing conflict in Kismayu. He said the government’s unfair position in the conflict could only exacerbate the tense situation.
“The government should send a joint federal delegation to soothe the situation and the people in Kismayu should think about their future,” he said.
Hirale has also indicated that he was back from a short trip to the region, resolving clan discrepancies. “I say it is always important to be part of the solution and I believe that it’s the duty of the Somali transitional federal government to solve the country’s tribal fighting that certainly seems intensifying in Somalia lately,” he said.
On June 22, more than 20 people were killed and over 40 were wounded after the sub-clans skirmished in the port town.
The leaders of both clans have been challenging over the administration of Kismayu since the T.F.G. backed by its Ethiopian allied troops routed out the Union of Islamic Courts in early this year.
Marehan clan militiamen now control Kismayu while rival clan militias are based on the outskirt of the town, according to our correspondent, Mohammed Ahmed.
Shabelle Media Network Somalia
