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SOMALIA: RENEWED FIGHTING IN BAIDOBA May 30, 2005

RENEWED FIGHTING IN BAIDOA

By Guled Mohamed

<|baydhabo.jpg||left|>Baidoa, a southwestern Somali town that the interim Somali government intended to set a temporary base, came under heavy attack last night. The attackers were militiamen loyal to two Ministers in the interim government.

Hundreds of militiamen loyal to Sheikh Adan Madobe and Hassan Mohamednur “Shatigadud”, attacked Baidoa late last night, in a bid to repocess it from their adversary Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade.

Tensions have been high in Baidoa since Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade - a lawmaker cum faction leader, who is opposed to President Abdullahi Yussuf’s intention to temporarily relocate to Baidoa, seized control of the town.

Fighting started around 3:45 am last night and continued until this morning. Many people have been injured and many more believed to be dead. Abukar, a human rights activist in Baidoa said people were caught unawares since the fighting started late at night. He could not disclose how many people were dead or injured.

Habsade, dismissed claims that Baidoa was under the control of his adversaries. “The fighting is over now, my forces were able to thwart the attack by my foes, we have seized 4 battlewagons from them and am still in control,” continued to say Habsade, “ I don’t know how many people are dead or injured, we will inform the media once we verify.”

Agriculture Minister Hassan Mohamed Nur “Shatigadud”, who is currently in Nairobi admitted fighting had erupted in Baidoa but could not deny or accept that his forces took part in the attack. “I also heard that Baidoa is under attack, please call me later, am trying to gather more information” Shatigadud said.

The whereabouts of Justice Minister Sheikh Adan Madobe could not be immediately verified, as conflicting reports indicated that he either could have been in Ethiopia or Somalia when the war started.

The interim Somali Government Spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the renewed fighting in Baidoa disturbs the interim government. “ We are very sorry for what happened, the government does not support such invasions, we are against such activities that inflict problems to Somali people. We want to request the feuding factions to stop fighting and end their differences through dialogue.” Dinari said

Asked whether the government would still go ahead with its relocation plan, Dinari said, “ The decision to relocate to Baidoa and Jowhar was reached by both the executive and the legislature. The government will go ahead with its plans and we will try to solve the problem through dialogue.”

Somalia was plunged into civil war in 1991, after former military dictator Mohamed Said Barre was ousted by clan militia. Famine and conflicts has killed hundreds of thousands of people since then.

The Somali government -- formed last year at peace talks in Kenya -- has been divided on where to base the government. Speaker of parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan together with renegade ministers want the government in Mogadishu, however, President Abdullahi Yussuf believes Mogadishu is too dangerous; he intends to temporary set base in Jowhar and Baidoa until security in Mogadishu permits him to go to there.

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