By Guled Mohamed
Monday, January 15, 2007
Somalia's interim government wants African peacekeepers to be deployed after its troops, backed by heavily armed Ethiopian forces, ousted Islamists in a lightning December offensive.
"They came to meet with government officials in order to discuss how the African Union troops could be deployed," government spokesperson Abdirahman Dinari, told a news conference.
"They will visit several places in the country ... and they'll meet with senior government security officials. We hope the African troops will be deployed as soon as possible."
The government wants to install itself in Mogadishu, one of the world's most dangerous cities, and faces a huge challenge to bring peace and security to a nation without effective rule since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
It is seeking to disarm residents of a city awash with guns and Dinari said government forces had searched houses in the northern Arafat area and seized AK-47s, grenades and explosives. He said seven gangsters in another area were arrested.
"The operations were aimed at improving security in the capital city," Dinari said at Villa Somalia, the Barre's former presidential compound.
Resident Mohammed Abdullahi said he saw dozens of government and Ethiopian troops in the area, and that some Somali soldiers had searched a hospital.
"I saw over 50 government troops walking towards Arafat hospital. After a few minutes they emerged carrying guns," he said. Others said the arms were later returned to the clinic.
The searches came a day after Somalia's parliament declared a three-month state of emergency. The law prohibits unauthorised protests and bans possession of weapons by civilians.
Source: Reuters, Jan 15, 2007