Monday, September 08, 2008
A commander of the moderate Somali Islamic Courts Union (ICU) rejected a new administration set up by the hardline Shebab, less than a month after the groups jointly drove out a pro-government militia after battles that left scores dead.
Sheikh Ibrahim Shukri said the Shebab had appointed "unacceptable" leaders for Kismayo, 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, nearly three weeks after they seized the port town.
"The Shebab appointed its people to top posts without inviting other local people and the ICU that played a military role in taking over Kismayo," Shukri told AFP by phone.
Talks to name a broad administration had been under way, but were "hijacked by elements who met in a small room and came up with an unacceptable list," he added.
Elders said the new leadership, appointed over the weekend, was illegitimate.
"The new administration is illegitimate and will not be recognised by the people of this region. The Shebab disrespected people's aspiration to have their own civic leaders," said one elder, Ahmed Moalim Hassan.
The Shebab and the ICU wrested back control of Kismayo on August 22 after three days of battles with a local militia, and more than a year after they were driven out by Ethiopian forces backing the Somali government.
Sheikh Hassan Yakub, the spokesman for the Shebab, said: "The new Mujahideen administration will help the people of Kismayo under the Sharia law."
The ICU is a member of the Alliance of Reliberation of Somalia (ARS) -- an umbrella Somali opposition group -- that signed a truce with the government at UN-mediated peace talks in Djibouti on June 9. The Shebab rejected the deal.
Washington has blacklisted the Shebab for its suspected ties with Al-Qaeda.
Source: AFP, Sept 08, 2008