MOGADISHU
- A Somali clan leader who fought for years to retake a strategic
southern port city he once controlled has laid down arms and joined talks,
bolstering government efforts to show it can restore order to a chaotic nation.
The fate of the city of Kismayu and the surrounding region of
Jubbaland is seen as a test of Mogadishu's skill in building a federal system
of government and pacifying a nation fought over for more than two decades by
warlords and Islamist rebels.
Dozens of people were killed in clashes last year when Barre
Hirale's forces battled to regain control of Kismayu from the Ras Kamboni
militia loyal to Ahmed Madobe, who had been chosen in May by a regional
assembly to preside over Jubbaland.
Hirale and Madobe have for years fought to control the port, which
generates valuable revenues from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on arms and
other illegal imports.
The African Union force AMISOM, which has been involved in
reconciliation efforts, said Hirale and nearly 100 members of his militia gave
up their weapons on Saturday after discussions with clan elders and Somali
federal government delegations.
AMISOM said Hirale also shook hands with Madobe.
The United Nations, the regional African group IGAD and European
Union envoys which have supported Mogadishu in brokering a deal welcomed
Hirale's agreement to join a reconciliation conference due to take place in
coming weeks.
"It is an important step forward in the path towards peace-
and state-building for all Somalis," they said in a joint statement on
Sunday, when the news about Hirale was announced.
"DEVIL IN THE DETAIL"
Fighting in Kismayu last year raised worries it could re-ignite
broader clan warfare across Somalia, where several regions such as Somaliland
and Puntland have split away from central government control.
Analysts say breakaway regions may be reassured if the government
can show skill in ending the battle for Kismayu and reaching a power-sharing
deal to integrate the Jubbaland region into a federal structure.
"While this is significant and important, and certainly a
step in the right direction, the devil is in the detail," said Abdi Aynte,
director of the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Policy Studies.
"There are many potential roadblocks that could eventually see this
progress stall."
Some of Kismayu's residents, worn down by years of fighting, were
also cautious. Several said many more of Hirale's militia were still hiding in
the countryside and could regroup.
"Why did he leave hundreds of his forces and weapons in the
forests?" said local elder, Aden Ahmed. "Now it is too early to say
if the so-called surrender will improve or worsen the political
situation," he told Reuters by telephone from Kismayu.
Hirale ruled Kismayu in the 1990s and into the 2000s until he was
unseated by Madobe, who was at the time aligned to the Islamic Courts Union,
which ruled Somalia until 2006.
The Islamist militant group al Shabaab then ruled the southern
region of Somalia until 2011, when the movement was thrown out of Mogadishu by
African troops. It has continued to launch attacks on the capital and elsewhere
since then.
Al Shabaab militants attacked a national-intelligence site in
Mogadishu on Sunday, an assault that left 12 people dead, including seven of
the attackers
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