Somali Islamists change tactics

By Mohamed Olad Hassan
BBC News, Mogadishu

The Islamist gunmen have left Mogadishu

All forces loyal to Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts abandoned the capital, Mogadishu, late on Wednesday night in what it says is a change of tactics.

"We have taken the decision to leave Mogadishu because of the safety of the civilians," the deputy head of the Islamic courts executive council, Abdi-Rahman Janqow, said as Ethiopian-backed government troops advanced towards to the city.

"All of our troops have withdrawn. They are now heading to somewhere they think they can fight with their enemy and kill them one by one without fighting among the civilians", he added.

The exact destination of the courts militia is still unclear but witnesses saw them in convoys heading to the southern Somali port city of Kismayo, 500km (310 miles) from Mogadishu, the provincial capital of the Juba region.

Regional experts say the likely destination of the Islamic courts is Ras Chiamboni in the Juba, a region which has dense bush jungle which can give good cover for guerrilla fighting.

The Islamists' retreat came hours after a joint force of Ethiopian and Somali government troops arrived in Balad, 30km (18 miles) from Mogadishu on the main road leading north.

Power vacuum

Government commander Hasan Nour Heyle, said there would not be an immediate move into Mogadishu.

The break out of insecurity has forced most of our traders to close their business centres Businessman Adbikariim Fodare

"We will stop outside, besiege the capital and consider any way we can go into the city peacefully rather than attacking it", he told the BBC by telephone from Balad.

Armed clan militia appeared in the streets of the capital as soon as the news of the Islamists withdrawal emerged, looting the offices of the UIC administration. Eyewitnesses said at least three people were killed and five injured in two hours of shootouts by looters outside the UIC headquarters in north Mogadishu, where hundreds of armed clan militia gathered this morning.

The power vacuum has allowed opportunist clan militia to retake sections of the city they controlled before the UIC took control in June.

Gunmen loyal to former commander Mohamed Jama Furuh, whose militia used to control the seaport, have retaken it.

"The port is now in my hand, I want to provide its security and protect it from looting because, there is business property by Somalis, until we hand it over to any other administration", Mr Furuh told the BBC.

In north Mogadishu, militia loyal to Abdu-Kadir Bebbe, one of the commanders of the US-backed defeated warlords, is now in control of a district, saying he will be there until the government arrives.

Looting

Witnesses and the local residents in north Mogadishu have also reported groups of bandits stealing cars and mobile phones.

"The break out of insecurity has forced most of our traders to close their business centres and the luxury cars have disappeared from the streets," said Adbikariim Fodare a businessman in the city's main Bakara market.

The decision by the transitional government to close all the country's borders by air and sea has also affected the smooth running of businesses and people's lives, he said.

Businessman Hassan Ileyke said the cost of living had also risen.

"Most basic items have soared out of reach of most of the people because the traders are cautious to export commodities from abroad in this transitional period", he said.

Mogadishu, which has enjoyed a semblance of law and order for more than six months of Islamists rule, now seems to be descending back into anarchy.

Traditional elders and intellectuals are trying to stop that from happening.

A former politician Husien Haji Boot, who is spearheading the effort, said they are meeting to consider ways to maintain the security of the capital.

"We want to persuade people to take responsibility for their own security until a government that takes the duty is in place", he said