NAIROBI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A Somali warlord, who is a memberof the
alliance of politicians allegedly backed by Washington and fighting for power in
the Horn of African nation, left Kenya late Wednesday for Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates.
Abdirashid Hussein Shire had earlier been arrested by Kenyan police but was
freed when he said he had already booked a flight to Dubai to leave Kenya.
"Shire has already left for Dubai where he will connect another flight to
London," an aide, who answered Shire's telephone, said.Shire, also a prominent
businessman, who has been in the country since last week, is said to be a member
of the Alliancefor the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), which
was ousted from Mogadishu on Sunday by forces loyal to the city's Islamic
courts.
His arrest came barely a day after Kenya slapped a travel ban on Somali
warlords involved in bloody clashes with Islamic militia.
Shire, a banana and fish exporter with shipping and communications
interests, owns Mogadishu's Sahafi Hotel, which had served as a base for the
ARPCT battling Islamic militia.The hotel has been captured by Islamists in
fierce fighting with the alliance.
The Kenyan government said the faction leaders were undermining efforts by
the fledgling transitional administration to restore stability to Somalia.
Kenya's special envoy for Somalia peace process Bethuel Kiplagat, who was
the chief mediator during the Somalire conciliation conference in Nairobi, said
the decision to ban the warlords from visiting the country would have little
effect on the political situation in Somalia because most of them have already
been discredited at home.
"They have already been discredited by the majority of the people. They
spoilt the transitional government that was very delicately negotiated here in
Nairobi. They should have discussed with the government," Kiplagat said.
Kenya's Ambassador to Somalia Mohammed Affey said Kenya was only interested
in strengthening the fledgling government and was determined to hinder any
efforts to scuttle that process.Kenya hosted the two-year protracted
negotiations that brought together Somalia's numerous factions and finally
produced the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004,
"The underlying fact is that we want a strong, credible government in
Somalia, and we will discourage those who instigate trouble and then come here
to recuperate when the going gets tough," the ambassador said by telephone.
"Kenya invested heavily in the process of establishing agovernment for
Somalia, and we will help only those forces that want stability in Somalia,"
Affey added.
"The government would like to reiterate its previously stated positions
that it will not permit its territory to be used by those who persist in
destabilizing Somalia and undermine our ongoing efforts to restore peace and
security in that country,"said a statement issued by Kenyan Foreign
Ministry.However, the statement did not name the warlords or associates affected
by the ban, but Kenyan authorities said it targeted members of the ARPCT, who
were sacked by Somalia's interim Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi on Sunday.
They include: National Security Minister Mohamed Afrah Qanyare,Commerce
Minister Musa Sudi Yalahow, Militia Rehabilitation Minister Issa Botan Alin and
Religious Affairs Minister Omar Muhamoud Finnish.
The transitional government, based in Baidoa, 250 kilometers southwest of
Mogadishu, has been working with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
(IGAD), the African Union and the international community to develop a national
security and stabilization plan.
Kenya's Foreign Affairs Assistant Minister Moses Wetang'ula said his
country had invested a lot in the Somali provisional government and would not
like it to be undermined.Wetang'ula said Kenya, which chairs IGAD grouping seven
Eastern African countries including Somalia, wanted to address some security
issues in Somalia by imposing the ban.
"The provisional government in Somalia is our baby, we have spent money,
time and other resources in it. We cannot have a few warlords spoiling that," he
said.
"From today on they are persona non grata (prohibited immigrants) in this
country...if they are found, they will face the consequences," he added.
On Monday, after months of fighting that has killed around 350 people, the
Islamic militia claimed control of Mogadishu and awarlord militiaman said his
coalition's leaders were fleeing the capital.
US President George W. Bush has expressed concern about the fall of most of
Mogadishu to Islamist forces, saying Washington would ensure Somalia does not
become a haven for terrorists."Obviously when there's instability anywhere in
the world we'reconcerned. There is instability in Somalia," Bush said on
Tuesday.
"First concern of course would be to make sure that Somalia does not become
an al-Qaeda safe haven, doesn't become a place from which terrorists plot and
plan," he added.
The US was accused of backing the warlords but has neither confirmed nor
denied the persistent reports.
Experts say U.S. intelligence has produced no conclusive evidence of an
active al Qaeda presence in Somalia.But there have been reports of al Qaeda
members in the country,including suspects in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in
East Africa.
Americans have bad memories of U.S. involvement in Somalia in 1993, when 18
U.S. soldiers were killed and 79 injured in a battle with guerrillas loyal to
warlord Mohamed Farrah Aideed afterentering the country to support a relief
effort.
Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries about the size of Texas with
a population of some 8 million on the east coast of Africa, has been without a
functioning government ever since the collapse of President Muhammad Siad
Barre's regime in 1991.Currently Mogadishu is the only capital in the world
where the UN does not have access for international humanitarian staff, dueto
insecurity, despite an estimated 250,000 internally displaced living in the
city.
The aid community is especially concerned over the delay in the polio and
measles immunization campaigns. Enditem
