KENYA: Somalia Foreign Minister Ismail Mohamed says Mogadishu and Kismayo are next targets for Ethiopian forces

Record ID: 360747

  • Title: KENYA: Somalia Foreign Minister Ismail Mohamed says Mogadishu and Kismayo are next targets for Ethiopian forces
  • Date: 27th December 2006
  • Summary: (BN12) NAIROBI, KENYA (DECEMBER 26, 2006) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY SOMALIA FOREIGN MINISTER ISMAIL MOHAMED HURRE BUBA (SOUNDBITE)(English) SOMALIA FOREIGN MINISTER ISMAIL MOHAMED HURRE BUBA SAYING: "The intention of (Somali) Transitional Federal Government is to clean the Islamic courts militias from all of these regions. Our attention now is focussed at two p
  • Embargoed: 11th January 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVACTSZ1F7UKD8VVZ6U971S9PRW0
  • Story Text: The foreign minister of Somalia's secular interim government said on Tuesday (December 26) that it had closed all land, air and sea borders to stop Al Qaeda members from escaping.
    The government is based in the town of Baidoa, surrounded by Islamist fighters, but is supported militarily by Ethiopia, which said on Monday that it was halfway to victory and could seize the Islamists's stronghold of Mogadishu within days.
    The interim government's foreign minister, Ismail Mohamed Hurre Buba, is in Kenya, where he told a news conference: "The intention of (Somali) Transitional Federal Government is to clean the Islamic courts militias from all of these regions. Our attention now is focussed at two points: Kismayo in the south; and Mogadishu as the capital."
    Islamists countered that they were ready for a long war and any attempt to oust them would prove disastrous for their foes. The Red Cross said hundreds were wounded in the latest fighting.
    Hurre Baba said in Nairobi: "The council of ministers sat and prohibited unauthorised movement throughout the borders of Somalia -- land, sea and air -- and we would like to appeal to all neighbouring countries, to all peace loving countries, that the Al Qaeda people that have come to Somalia, that have been coming for the past few months and are now trying to find escape routes by air, by sea and through the borders -- and we would like neighbouring countries to keep a close watch."
    Ethiopia and the USA say the Islamists are backed by al Qaeda and by Ethiopia's enemy, Eritrea.
    Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says he is waging war against the religious movement to protect his nation's sovereignty.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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