Islamists claim Mogadishu victory

BBC

An Islamist militia says it has seized Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after weeks of fighting against an alliance of warlords supported by the US.

The warlords have controlled the capital since they toppled Somalia's last effective government 15 years ago.

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"The Joint Islamic Courts are not interested in a continuation of hostilities and will fully implement peace and security after the change has been made by the victory of the people with the support of Allah," he said.

"This is a new era for Mogadishu," he told AFP news agency.

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The violence began earlier this year when a group of warlords, who had divided Mogadishu into fiefdoms, united to form the Anti-Terrorism Alliance to tackle the Islamic Courts, who they accused of sheltering foreign al-Qaeda militants.

The Islamic Courts deny this. They were originally set up in Mogadishu by businessmen to establish some law and order in a city without any judicial system.
The Islamic Courts has long said the warlords in the Anti-Terror Alliance were being backed by the US.

Washington merely says it will support those trying to stop people it considers terrorists setting up in Somalia but stresses its commitment to the country's transitional government, which functions from Baidoa, 250km (155 miles) north-west of the capital.

The Anti-Terrorism Alliance includes eight warlords, four of whom are ministers in the government, which only controls a small part of the country.
President Abdullahi Yusuf had urged the US to channel its campaign against Somalia's Islamists through his government, rather than the warlords and came under heavy pressure from some MPs to sack the warlords because of the fighting in Mogadishu.