JEDDAH, 13 June 2003 — Eight people have been killed and dozens wounded in inter-clan fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu, radio Banadir said on Wednesday. The fighting, which erupted in Medina district, was between militias loyal to warlords Muse Sudi Yalahow and Omer Finish.
The two groups had fought each other in late February and March. Local elders mediated at the time. Each group apparently struggles to seize control the southwestern part of the capital city. The fighting is seen as the latest in a series of violations of a ceasefire agreement, which was signed last October by the Somali participants in the ongoing peace talks in Kenya.
According to the terms of the accord, the Somali groups agreed to suspend all hostilities for the duration of the talks. Since then, there have been continual violations, with fighting in Mogadishu and other major cities and towns in the northeastern and southwestern regions.
Last week, the European Commission and regional bodies strongly denounced the cease-fire violations. An EC statement noted with dismay the recent violence in the Middle Shabelle region, where 23 people, mostly innocent civilians and schoolchildren, were killed.
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The Kulmiye party’s presidential candidate of the breakaway northern region of Somaliland, Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo, said he had decided to accept the results of the recent presidential polls, after the intervention of the regional elders, press reports said.
Silanyo had initially rejected the results of the elections in which Dahir Riyale Kahin of UDUB party, was declared winner of April 14 polls. The Somaliland Election Commission declared Kahin as the president of the enclave for a five-year term.
“There was a lot of injustice in the election process, but we decided to accept the results in the interest of the people,” Silanyo told reporters in the Somaliland capital on Wednesday, adding that the Kulmiye party was ready for talks with UDUB and the government, but declined to say when such talks were likely to start.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared independence from the rest of Somalia in the wake of civil war in 1991. It has not been internationally recognized as a sovereign state.
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Sixty Somali women peace activists have appealed for the restoration of peace and stability in the Somali capital, according to media reports. The women made the appeal during a forum held in Mogadishu, organized by the Center for Research and Dialogue, an affiliate of the War-Torn Societies Project International.
Sharifo Adow, a member of the group, said that the women were peace activists who had been trying to persuade the various Mogadishu factions to agree on a common administration for the region and put together a plan of action.
“We have decided that we will do anything to bring pressure to bear on the leaders to accept a unified administration for Banadir Region and to restore peace and stability. This city has suffered more than anywhere else in Somalia, and it is the women who bear the brunt of problems.
“We are the mothers, sisters and the wives who have to care for the family after our men are killed or maimed. We would not hesitate to denounce those leaders, who proved to be an obstacle to the people of Mogadishu and to the international community,” Sharifo was quoted as saying.
