“Islamic Courts” that operate in un-Islamic ways and an “Anti-Terrorism Alliance” that carries out acts of terrorism: A condemnation of the latest armed conflict in Mogadishu.

The Pan Somali Council for Peace and Democracy (ISRAACA) condemns in the strongest terms the latest round of armed conflict in and around Mogadishu involving two contending alliances that are both responsible, to varying degrees, for the suffering inflicted on the Somali people over the last 16 years.

The latest fighting between the so-called “Islamic Courts Union” and the self-styled “Anti Terrorism Alliance” of warlords has not only caused the deaths of dozens of innocent civilians including children and mothers, but has forced the displacement of thousands more within the capital city and outlying areas. This renewed conflict has deepened the disillusionment of the Somali people at a time when their hopes for improved security have been raised by the tenuous peace that is now holding among the main factions within the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia.

In condemning this round of violence, ISRAACA decries the history of oppression that these two warring parties have either tolerated or have directly perpetrated themselves over the last 16 years. We view the “Anti Terrorism Alliance” as an ill-conceived fraternity that binds together some of Somalia’s most vicious warlords who have made a name for themselves through their organized criminal enterprises by which they extort money and goods from businesses and members of the general public at dozens of “Isbaaro” roadblocks manned by armed militias and rogue thugs. The irony should be noted that a group claiming to fight terrorism is itself an egregious perpetrator of social, economic, and political forms of terrorism on its own people.

The so called “‘Islamic’ Courts Union”, on the other hand, is an unholy alliance that is tainted by its tolerance and/or tacit approval of a feudal system that has emerged in the Lower Shabelle and Juba regions of the country since the months following the fierce 1990 civil war that ousted General Mohamed Siad Barre.
The violent seizures of public and private properties in Benadir, Shabelle, and Juba regions by the largest armed clan factions of the civil war stands as the single greatest threat to any peaceful settlement of the country’s 28-year internal conflict. The so-called “Islamic Courts” forfeit much of their moral authority when they maintain such close association with this clan-based power structure that has shown little sensitivity to the interests of the Somali people as a whole.
This close alliance with major as well as dozens of second-tier warlords who occupy the Lower Shabelle and Juba region came to the limelight during the recent armed conflict in Mogadishu. The charade of Islamist principles claimed by the “Islamic Court Union” was laid bare and a patently clan-driven chauvinistic entity was exposed.
We call on both of these groups to desist from further destabilization of the country and join in the Somali people’s march toward peace by doing their part in dismantling the immoral economic, social, and political order that has taken root in much of southern Somalia as a result of the military conquests by organized clan militias.

We also urge the leaders and all members of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) now assembled in Baidoa, to make the plight of the people in these occupied areas of the country a priority as everything else in Somalia’s longstanding internecine conflicts hinges on this one issue. The minimum that the TFG can do is to condemn the on-going oppression and subjugation of innocent Somali citizens by other Somalis.

We specifically urge the Mogadishu-based warlords, who are members of the TFG, to immediately travel to Baidoa and participate in the on-going Parliamentary Session, the first to be held on Somali soil since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime. It does not make sense that a Minister, claiming to be a member of a government mandated to restore peace and stability, would at the same time continue to engage in activities that are in glaring contradiction to this noble cause. You are either a Minister serving the nation or a thug sabotaging the wishes and dreams of your people. It is about time that the Mogadishu-based warlords make a choice.

Published with permission from Amin Amir