MOGADISHU, June 17 (Reuters) - Two Somali warlords defeated by Mogadishu's newly dominant Islamists fled the capital to a waiting U.S. military ship on Saturday, Islamic court sources said.
Bashir Raghe and Muse Sudi Yalahow took a boat early in the morning to a waiting U.S. vessel which approached the Somali coast, and looters wasted no time storming their houses, a senior aide to the Islamist leadership told Reuters.
"They said they would be back in a few days but everybody thinks they may take asylum," said the aide, Abdulrahman Ali Osman. "Everybody is running to their houses to take their guns. Bashir Raghe's house is being looted."
It was not immediately possible to obtain independent confirmation of the report.
Asked about the report, Commander Jeff Breslau, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, said he had no information and advised to handle the information "with caution".
He said there was a joint taskforce patrolling the region led by Pakistan which included U.S. navy ships.
The Islamists, led by an umbrella group of sharia courts, have invited foreign journalists to see Mogadishu for the first time since they routed warlords, believed to have U.S. backing, in fighting that killed 350 people since February.
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