A Somali warlord, who is a member of the alliance of politicians
allegedly backed by Washington and fighting for power in the Horn
of African nation, left Kenya late Wednesday for Dubai, the United
Arab Emirates.
Abdirashid Hussein Shire had earlier been arrested by Kenyan
police but was freed when he said he had already booked a flight to
Dubai to leave Kenya.
"Shire has already left for Dubai where he will connect another
flight to London," an aide, who answered Shire's telephone,
said.Shire, also a prominent businessman, who has been in the
country since last week, is said to be a member of the Alliance for
the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), which was
ousted from Mogadishu on Sunday by forces loyal to the city's
Islamic courts.
His arrest came barely a day after Kenya slapped a travel ban on
Somali warlords involved in bloody clashes with Islamic
militia.
Shire, a banana and fish exporter with shipping and
communications interests, owns Mogadishu's Sahafi Hotel, which had
served as a base for the ARPCT battling Islamic militia. The hotel
has been captured by Islamists in fierce fighting with the
alliance.
The Kenyan government said the faction leaders were undermining
efforts by the fledgling transitional administration to restore
stability to Somalia.
Kenya's special envoy for Somalia peace process Bethuel
Kiplagat, who was the chief mediator during the Somalire
conciliation conference in Nairobi, said the decision to ban the
warlords from visiting the country would have little effect on the
political situation in Somalia because most of them have already
been discredited at home.
"They have already been discredited by the majority of the
people. They spoilt the transitional government that was very
delicately negotiated here in Nairobi. They should have discussed
with the government," Kiplagat said.
Kenya's Ambassador to Somalia Mohammed Affey said Kenya was only
interested in strengthening the fledgling government and was
determined to hinder any efforts to scuttle that process. Kenya
hosted the two-year protracted negotiations that brought together
Somalia's numerous factions and finally produced the Transitional
Federal Government (TFG) in 2004.
"The underlying fact is that we want a strong, credible
government in Somalia, and we will discourage those who instigate
trouble and then come here to recuperate when the going gets
tough," the ambassador said by telephone.
"Kenya invested heavily in the process of establishing a
government for Somalia, and we will help only those forces that
want stability in Somalia," Affey added.
"The government would like to reiterate its previously stated
positions that it will not permit its territory to be used by those
who persist in destabilizing Somalia and undermine our ongoing
efforts to restore peace and security in that country," said a
statement issued by Kenyan Foreign Ministry. However, the statement
did not name the warlords or associates affected by the ban, but
Kenyan authorities said it targeted members of the ARPCT, who were
sacked by Somalia's interim Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi on
Sunday.
They include: National Security Minister Mohamed Afrah Qanyare,
Commerce Minister Musa Sudi Yalahow, Militia Rehabilitation
Minister Issa Botan Alin and Religious Affairs Minister Omar
Muhamoud Finnish.
The transitional government, based in Baidoa, 250 kilometers
southwest of Mogadishu, has been working with the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union and the
international community to develop a national security and
stabilization plan.
Kenya's Foreign Affairs Assistant Minister Moses Wetang'ula said
his country had invested a lot in the Somali provisional government
and would not like it to be undermined. Wetang'ula said Kenya,
which chairs IGAD grouping seven Eastern African countries
including Somalia, wanted to address some security issues in
Somalia by imposing the ban.
"The provisional government in Somalia is our baby, we have
spent money, time and other resources in it. We cannot have a few
warlords spoiling that," he said.
"From today on they are persona non grata (prohibited
immigrants) in this country...if they are found, they will face the
consequences," he added.
On Monday, after months of fighting that has killed around 350
people, the Islamic militia claimed control of Mogadishu and a
warlord militiaman said his coalition's leaders were fleeing the
capital.
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US President George W. Bush has expressed concern about the fall of
most of Mogadishu to Islamist forces, saying Washington would
ensure Somalia does not become a haven for terrorists. "Obviously
when there's instability anywhere in the world we're concerned.
There is instability in Somalia," Bush said on Tuesday.
"First concern of course would be to make sure that Somalia does
not become an al-Qaeda safe haven, doesn't become a place from
which terrorists plot and plan," he added.
The US was accused of backing the warlords but has neither
confirmed nor denied the persistent reports.
Experts say US intelligence has produced no conclusive evidence
of an active al Qaeda presence in Somalia. But there have been
reports of al Qaeda members in the country, including suspects in
the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa.
Americans have bad memories of US involvement in Somalia in
1993, when 18 US soldiers were killed and 79 injured in a battle
with guerrillas loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aideed after
entering the country to support a relief effort.
Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries about the size of
Texas with a population of some 8 million on the east coast of
Africa, has been without a functioning government ever since the
collapse of President Muhammad Siad Barre's regime in
1991.Currently Mogadishu is the only capital in the world where the
UN does not have access for international humanitarian staff, due o
insecurity, despite an estimated 250,000 internally displaced
living in the city.
The aid community is especially concerned over the delay in the
polio and measles immunization campaigns.
(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2006)
