Baidoa disappointed with new government

NAIROBI, 3 October (IRIN) - Optimism in Baidoa for the newly elected Somali government is turning into disappointment because the interim president, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, is planning to bring the new parliament to Mogadishu instead of making Baidoa the transitional capital. Sources in Baidoa told IRIN that while at first there had been support for the Djibouti-hosted process, it had caused splits in the local Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), with "some bitterness" that the new president "has no interest in Baidoa".

Last week offices were closed in Baidoa in preparation for an anti-government demonstration, which was cancelled "at the eleventh hour" by the RRA military leader, Hasan Muhammad Nur 'Shatigudud'. Hasan Muhammad, who is a member of the new government, has been in Addis Ababa, where he is considered "Ethiopia's man", said one of the sources. RRA Secretary-General Abdullah Derow Isaaq was elected as Speaker of the new parliament during the Djibouti-hosted talks.

Growing resentment in Baidoa over being sidelined comes after years of suspicion and "occupation by certain clans", said the source. Somali political sources told IRIN that the Bay and Bakool regions in the south, including Baidoa, had suffered extensive looting by both the former regime and opposing militia forces headed by the late General Muhammad Farah Aydid, culminating in the devastating Baidoa famine of 1992. The area was also later affected by in-fighting between the local Rahanweyn clans, the presence of the extremist Al-Ittihad forces and the involvement of Ethiopia, which backed and armed the local RRA to fight as a proxy in its war against Eritrea. Some of the worst human rights abuses in the area were perpetrated during the renewed militia battles in 1996 after General Aydid died and his son, Husayn Muhammad Aydid, took over, said the source.

Meanwhile, the situation in Baidoa town is reported to be tense, following troop movements. The independent Mogadishu daily newspaper, 'Xog-Ogaal', has reported that about 900 soldiers have been deployed just a few kilometres outside the town. Sources have told IRIN that the situation is causing the new government of President Abdiqasim Salad Hasan concern. Colonel Hasan Muhammad Nur, the RRA leader, and four members of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA), are now in Baidoa. The sources told IRIN that another 16 TNA members from the Digil and Mirifle clans had also gone to Baidoa to make sure nothing untoward happened.

A different source asserted to IRIN that "the whole thing is an Ethiopian attempt to pressure the new government". The source indicated that the soldiers Ethiopia had deployed near Baidoa belonged to the Marehan and Hawadle clans. Another source told IRIN that the new government had informed the authorities in Addis Ababa that it wished to send a delegation to discuss the situation with officials there.