By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press WriterSat Dec 23, 8:55 AM ET
Somalia's Islamic militants Saturday called on foreign Muslim fighters to join their holy war against Ethiopian troops after days of fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to engulf this volatile region.
Muslims are brothers and help each other, Sheik Yusuf Indahaadde, national security chairman for the Council of Islamic Courts, said in the capital, Mogadishu. We have a right to call our brothers and sisters to help us in this holy war, he said.
The Islamic forces have declared they want to bring the country under Quranic rule and vowed to drive out troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation that is providing military support to Somalia's U.N.-backed government. Ethiopia denies its forces are fighting, saying it has sent only military trainers.
The clashes could mean a major conflict in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, which has one of the largest armies in the region, and its bitter rival, Eritrea, could use Somalia as the ground for a proxy war. While Ethiopia backs the internationally recognized government, Eritrea backs the Islamic movement.
In Kismayo, a strategic seaport captured from the government by Islamic militia in September, residents saw several foreign Arab fighters disembarking from ships this week.
Hundreds of people have been killed since fighting broke out Tuesday. Sporadic gunfire and shelling could be heard Friday around Baidoa, the government's only stronghold, although fighting appeared to taper off. But four Ethiopian attack helicopters and about 20 tanks were seen headed for battle, witnesses and a government official said.
Thousands of Somalis have fled their homes as troops loyal to the two-year-old interim administration fought Islamic fighters who had advanced on Baidoa, about 140 miles northwest of Mogadishu. Islamic militiamen control Mogadishu along with most of southern Somalia.
Special forces who are highly trained in guerrilla warfare are now ready to attack Ethiopians, wherever they are in Somalia, Sheik Ibrahim Shukri Abuu-Zeynab, a spokesman for the Islamic movement, told The Associated Press.
He also said the Islamists late Friday peacefully captured the Ethiopian border town of Tiyeglow, which is believed to be a main entry point for troops from the neighboring nation.
Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi vowed Saturday that his government will defend the people it is responsible for and Somali sovereignty. He called on the Islamic fighters to return to negotiations.
They will be responsible for any consequences that may result from rejecting our call, he said.
Government officials said more than 600 Islamic fighters had been killed during four days of clashes. Islamic militiamen said they had killed around 400 Ethiopians and government fighters. Neither claim could be independently confirmed.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called on both sides to cease the hostilities immediately and to resume the peace talks, his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement released late Friday.
Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, plunging the country into chaos.
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