SOMALIA: Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies take control of former U.S. embassy in Mogadishu and make prisoners of war in Buur Hakaba.

Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies took control of the former U.S. embassy building in Mogadishu on Friday (December 29), tightening their hold on the capital after Islamist rivals fled. The streets of Mogadishu were calm and residents began venturing out of their homes. Sporadic gunfire heard through the previous day seemed to have abated, and there were no further reports of widespread looting seen on Thursday (December 28). Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamad Gedi said parliament would vote to declare martial law to maintain control of a country which has been without an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of a dictator. The embassy compound, in a western neighbourhood of the coastal city, was abandoned more than a decade ago after U.S. forces made a humiliating retreat from Somalia following an ill-fated mission. Government forces took effective control of Mogadishu on Thursday (December 28) after a 10-day offensive with Ethiopian allies to reclaim much of the territory seized by the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) since June. Most of the people who drove in together with the government forces had never set foot in Mogadishu since chaos erupted there 16 years ago. "Today is the first time I am in Mogadishu in 16 years, I am very excited that I am here with the people of Somalia, residents welcomed us without a problem," said presidential co-ordinator Abdi Wahid Mohamad Hassan. For many residents, life seemed to continue business as usual, and some enjoyed chewing Khat, a stimulant leaf that was banned during Islamic rule. "Today, I enjoy myself with what is going on in Mogadishu. I can't imagine we are chewing together with friends," said resident Aden Omar Osman. The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the Horn of Africa nation after they had spread across the south imposing strict sharia rule and confining the interim government to its base in the provincial town of Baidoa until less than two weeks ago. Ethiopian troops and government forces had taken Buur Hakaba on Thursday (December 28) without major resistance as the Islamists had retreated and the reinforcement they had called in could not help. Despite a retreat the government was already calling a partial victory, the Islamists insisted their withdrawal and re-grouping was a tactic in what they vowed would be a long war. There were some casualties as numbers of bodies littered the streets. Islamic courts militia who were captured during the war were all held in a jail in Buur Hakaba. Ethiopian troops and air strikes were critical to the government's assault, experts say, and there is some question what will happen when Addis Ababa finally withdraws its forces. With Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists, many feared the conflict could engulf the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, like the United States, says the Islamists are supported by al Qaeda. Addis Ababa fears a hardline Muslim state on its doorstep and accuses the SICC (Supreme Islamic Courts Council) of wanting to annex Ethiopia's ethnically Somali Ogaden region.

ITN Source | December 29, 2006

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