Posted on 08/01/2006 1:07:34 PM PDT by 300magnum
BAIDOA, Somalia - Somalia's president told residents of the only town his government controls Tuesday that they have a week to give up their weapons or "every single gun" would be seized by force.
President Abdullahi Yusuf said his government would pay people for any arms surrendered, and that the details of the disarmament plan would be released Wednesday.
He did not say why his government decided on the measure, but two lawmakers have been shot in Baidoa, 155 miles from the capital of Mogadishu, over the past week, one fatally. More than 20 others have resigned in disgust, including four on Tuesday.
Somalia's government has no military and relies on a militia loyal to Yusuf.
The administration was formed two years ago with the support of the United Nations to help Somalia emerge from more than a decade of anarchy, but it has established no real authority.
The government has watched helplessly as Islamic militants with alleged ties to al-Qaida have tightened their grip on southern Somalia and Mogadishu.
Somalia has about 200 members of parliament who were appointed along clan lines to accommodate disparate groups that have the support of Somalis.
"Because of ... the lack of a clear policy, we have decided to resign and join the other former ministers who have already stepped down," said a statement released by the four lawmakers who resigned Tuesday, including the deputy minister for treasury.
Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi barely survived a no-confidence vote in parliament over the weekend, but insisted Tuesday that government would continue to function.
"My government has survived political turmoil, and right now I hope it will stand on its own two legs soon," Gedi told journalists after Tuesday's resignations.
Foreign ministers of the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development met Tuesday in neighboring Kenya to discuss the situation in Somalia. Their agenda was expected to include a report by a fact-finding mission that recommends the quick deployment of a peacekeeping operation — a step rejected by the Islamic group but repeatedly called for by the government.
The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, also backs a proposal to lift an international arms embargo to help the government provide security. An U.N.-imposed arms embargo has been in place since 1992, but it has been violated by all sides in the Somali conflict.
The regional group mediated talks beginning four years ago that led to the formation of Somalia's government. Besides Somalia, IGAD members include Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.
The Islamic militants who rule much of the south have imposed strict religious courts, raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. The United States accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
The militants have brought a remarkable amount of control to a country that has seen little more than chaos since 1991, when longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled. On Monday, 275 militiamen with 50 pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns were sent to central Somalia to break up the bases of Somali pirates who have been kidnapping sailors.
"They will also help people in those areas set up their own Islamic courts and local administrations," Sheik Mohamud Siyad Inda Adde, the group's security chairman, told The Associated Press.
The United States and other Western powers have cautioned outsiders against meddling in Somalia, which has no single ruling authority and can be manipulated by anyone with money and guns. But there is little sign the warning has been heeded.
On Tuesday, Kazakhstan said it was investigating reports that a plane bearing the ex-Soviet republic's national flag delivered weapons for Islamic militants in Somalia twice last week. Somalia's government alleges the deliveries were arms from Eritrea.
Officials in Kazakhstan, a vast oil-rich Central Asian nation, had been involved in a string of illegal arms dealing scandals after the 1991 Soviet collapse, including sales of military equipment to Ethiopia and Congo. Kazakh air operators also often make their planes available for charter.
___
Associated Press writers Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu and Bagila Bukharbayeva in Almaty, Kazakhstan, contributed to this report.
They're crazy, but not that crazy.
Typical for the U.N.
>>Somalia's president told residents of the only town his government controls Tuesday that they have a week to give up their weapons or "every single gun" would be seized by force.<<
Somalia has a President? I wonder when that happened..
Not to worry...WE'LL PROTECT YOU
From my cold dead fingers.
"The only town his govt controls"?? He's not going to control that one if he tries to take the guns.
Somalia's "President" controls one town? There was never an election. How does ANY reporter on Earth use the title President for this guy?
They should call him the Mayor... although there was no election
And they want to ban weapons because of something that happened in a location that they don't control. That will teach the people in the areas that they don't control.
This is ridiculous. If more people in Iraq had weapons, they might have been able to dislodge Saddam.
genius!
"Somalia has a President? I wonder when that happened.."
Hillary is practicing.
"f more people in Iraq had weapons, they might have been able to dislodge Saddam."
Iraqis owned plenty of weapons and still do. The reason they didn't overthrow Saddam was he was better than civil war.
I thought he was elected by the Parliament, which was elected by ... who knows?
You could substutue a organizations from right here in the US for "Somalia" and get an accurate title. And I think drawing a comparison between disarming citizens in Somalia by the Radical Islamist Facists and US liberals is pretty appropriate.
While the United States doesn't face the problems that Somalia faces, there is still a lesson for Americans to learn from this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.