One group of demonstrators in southern Mogadishu marched to oppose any deployment of foreign troops whatsoever, while another group in the northern part of the bullet-scarred capital protested against the inclusion of forces from neighbouring states in the peace mission.

The pan-continental African Union (AU) in February asked the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which brings together Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, to deploy an interim peace mission in Somalia ahead of a proper AU force.

The interim mission is intended to allow a Somali government, which has been formed in exile in neighbouring Kenya with Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as its president, to move to the capital Mogadishu.

Some influential warlords have also refused the inclusion of forces from Ethiopia, which they accuse of backing various factions, or Djibouti, on the grounds that it supported the predecessor to Yusuf’s government.

“No foreign troops are required in Somalia. We can resolve our problems without a single peacekeeper from Africa or Asia,” said Bashir Raghe, a warlord who controls parts of northern Mogadishu, where demonstrators took to the streets.

Raghe’s position was backed by Abdulkadir Mohamed “Bebe”, another Somali warlord who led the protestors in the streets.

While Mogadishu Governor Abdullahi Ganey Fribi led another group of protestors against inclusion of troops from neighboring states in the peace mission, which is to help President Yusuf, Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi and the new parliament to settle down in Somalia when they choose to relocate from Nairobi.

“It is not good to send someone to help peace process when it is absolutely true that he would be partial in the conflict,” he said, referring particularly to Ethiopia and Djibouti. “Troops from Somalia’s immediate neighbors will create an atmosphere of confusion if they are deployed as peacekeepers. They will not be peacekeepers but peace-killers,” Fribi told demonstrators.

“Neighboring states have a geopolitical interest that could undermine their neutrality,” he added.

Interclan Fighting Claims 12 Lives

In central Somalia, at least 12 people were killed and 35 others wounded in an outbreak of interclan fighting at the weekend, residents said yesterday.

The clashes began on Saturday and were continuing yesterday, although at a much lower level, in the Hobyo district of Mudug region, they said.

The involved two groups, known as the Saad and the Suleymnan, within the large Hawiye clan, who have been at odds since December, they said.

A resident who was contacted by radio from a village in the area said that the warring sides were regrouping in preparation for fresh hostilities.