19 May 2007 04:26

SOMALIA WATCH

 
SW News
  • Title: [SW News] (BBC/AFP) Militia-cum-Police
  • Posted by/on:[AMJ][Monday, Sept. 11, 2000]

 
Monday, 11 September, 2000, 12:02 GMT 13:02 UK
Somali warlords oppose police force
gunmen in Mogadishu
Nearly 4,000 militiamen will be in Mogadishu's new police force
Somali warlords have reacted angrily to a decision by the new interim president to recruit militiamen into a new police force.

The warlords describe the decision as "risky" and have vowed to prevent the deployment of the force.

 

I will not allow the so-called police to exercise any authority in my area of responsibility

Osman Ali Atto
At the weekend a committee appointed by President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan began a recruitment drive for at least 4,000 police officers to restore law and order in the capital, Mogadishu.

Somalia has been without a central government since 1991 when President Siad Barre was overthrown, plunging the country into civil turmoil. Mogadishu has been carved up by rival faction leaders, dubbed warlords.

Tension

One of them, Hussein Haji Bod based in north Mogadishu, said such a force could increase tension in the country.

 
President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan
President Hassan: pledged to restore security
Another, Osman Hassan Ali Atto based in south Mogadishu, warned that any attempt to impose a security force on the people of Mogadishu could ignite violence in the volatile city.

"I will not allow the so-called police to exercise any authority in my area of responsibility," he said.

Another leader, Musa Sudi Yalahow, threatened to mobilise his militiamen "for the defence of Somalia" if the police force was deployed in the capital.

But the chairman of the south Mogadishu Islamic court, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, said religious groups would back the policing of the city.

"We must strengthen the new government and be wary of actions of non-believers who want us to follow their leadership, " said Sheikh Aweys.

Restoring security is a key pledge of President Hassan

From the newsroom of the BBC

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

Somali warlords condemn new president's bid to create police force

MOGADISHU, Sept. 11 (AFP) - - Somali warlords on Sunday reacted angrily to a decision by the country's new president to start recruiting police officers for lawless Mogadishu and vowed to prevent the deployment of the force.

A committee appointed by President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan on Saturday began interviewing militiamen interested in serving in the new police force.

"The creation of a police unit loyal to one group in the Somali capital is a risky and an emotional action that could spread animosity in Mogadishu," Hussein Haji Bod, a north Mogadishu faction leader told AFP.

He described as "unilateral" the decision to create the police force. Osman Hassan Ali "Atto", who controls part of south Mogadishu termed Salat's bid to form a police force as a "dream". "I will not allow the so-called police to exercize any authority in my area of responsibility," Atto said.

He cautioned that an attempt to impose a security force on the people of Mogadishu could ignite violence in the volatile city.

Another warlord, Musa Sudi Yalahow, threatened to mobilise his militiamen "for the defence of Somalia" if the police force was deployed in the capital.

But the chairman of the south Mogadishu Islamic court Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said religious groups would fight those opposed to the policing of Mogadishu.

"We must strengthen the new government and be wary of actions of non-believers who want us to follow their leadership," said Sheikh Aweys. Previous attempts to set up a security force for Mogadishu failed because of clan feuding and rivalry among warlords.

Salat was elected by a parliament-in-exile formed in Arta, in neighbouring Djibouti, on August 25 as part of a process aimed at restoring law and order in Somalia, which has been without a government since the overthrow of the dictatorship of the late Mohamed Siad Barre.

Salat said last week that his top priorities are to appoint a prime minister and to begin to disarm the country's militia groups(!!!).


[ News]

Copyright © 1999 by somaliawatch.org.  All Rights Reserved.  Revised:  19 May 2007 05:13 AM. Webmaster HomePage