NAIROBI, July 12 -- Islamic
militiamen on Wednesday took control of the potentially lucrative main port in
the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as United Nations mulls a proposal to lift an
arms embargo to allow foreign peacekeepers to the lawless nation.
The seizure of Mogadishu's port from a local militia leader came two days
after they drove out of the capital the last remaining member of a US-backed
alliance of warlords.
Sources said the transitional government's minister for ports, Mohamed Jama
Furuh, said that with the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) in control of
the capital, the only option was to hand over "national property to a
responsible hand."
Welcoming the move, SCIC executive committee chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh
Ahmed said the step was the beginning of greater development in Mogadishu.
"I ask all those who occupy the national property to hand over to the Islamic
courts so that they will serve the people. The other remaining government
properties must be handed over to the Islamic courts," Sheikh Sharif Sheikh
Ahmed reportedly said.
"Mogadishu is right now under control of the Islamic courts. We will control
every other important thing in Mogadishu. I encourage everybody who is opposed
to the Islamic courts to change that stance and support them," Ahmed said.
Mogadishu's key port has been closed for the last 15 years, because rival
factions failed to agree who should run it.
One week ago the city's main airport was handed to the Islamic courts by
militia who previously dug up the runway to resell cheap gravel for other
construction work.
Ahmed said the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) would provide "any assistance to
any organization willing to help our people", adding that "they will be able to
go anywhere they want and have as much access as they need."
He said the security situation in the city was "much better than it has been
in a long time, and we are doubling our efforts to make sure we will be able to
guarantee the safety and security of all."
Ahmed also appealed for humanitarian aid for the people affected by recent
fighting in the city as hundreds of displaced families begin returning to their
homes.
"We are appealing for immediate assistance for the thousands of people
affected by the fighting," said Ahmed.
He said priority "should be given to providing shelter material, food and
medicines" to the displaced and "those whose homes were destroyed" in the
fighting between the Islamic courts and faction leaders.
Ahmed made the appeal as thousands of civilians displaced by two days of
fighting began returning to their homes. The SCIC, he added, was also appealing
for help in reintegrating thousands of militias who have been disarmed after the
SCIC defeated the former faction leaders.
"We need help in getting them back into society and providing them with an
alternative means of earning a living," he said.
