10,000 Somalis in capital protest foreign peacekeeping proposal

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- More than 10,000 Somalis demonstrated Friday, angry at the possibility the weak transitional government would call in foreign troops to stop the advance of a militia that says it will bring peace and unity through Islamic rule.

The protesters were particularly incensed by rumors that troops from Ethiopia, Somalia's historical rival and an ally of the transitional president, might intervene amid signs of a deepening divide between the internationally backed government and the new rulers of Mogadishu.

"No Ethiopia, no Ethiopian government! We don't want to be a colony!" the protesters shouted in the second demonstration in as many days against the transitional parliament's vote Wednesday in favor of a plan to deploy Ugandan and Sudanese peacekeepers to bolster the government.

Women in robes and veils made up a third of the demonstration, segregated from the men. Several waved copies of the Quran, shouting, "We don't want foreigners!"

'No reason'

A leader of the Islamic Courts Union -- whose militia has swept across southern Somalia installing clan-based, but religiously oriented municipal administrations -- told reporters his group rejected the idea of peacekeepers.

"There is no reason for foreign troops to come into our country," said Sheik Abdulkadir Ali Omar, the deputy chairman of the courts union.

Earlier, at the rally, his remarks were more volatile.

"Now the members of parliament have only two options: to reverse their decision or to join Somalia's enemy!" Omar shouted.

The Islamic union's only competition for control of southern Somalia is a transitional government led by President Abdullahi Yusuf. His government is supported by Somalia's neighbors, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. Opposing it could mean isolation and possibly crippling sanctions for any administration the Islamic forces try to build.

The transitional government, whose military consists of little more than the president's personal militia, has watched from the sidelines as the Islamic forces overcame a coalition of secular warlords to take control of southern Somalia.

The Islamic group's consolidation of power in southern Somalia is a feat unmatched since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

The Islamic group, accused by the United States of harboring al-Qaida, portrays itself as free of links to Somalia's past turmoil and capable of bringing order and unity. Yet the future of a country accustomed to moderate Islam would be uncertain under hard-line Islamic rulers.

Ethiopia has intervened in Somalia in the past to prevent Islamic extremists from taking power. They were also key power brokers in forming the transitional government in 2002: Yusuf was their preferred candidate for president.

Omar acknowledged that Friday and said Ethiopian guns helped keep secular warlords in power. The Islamic courts' militia drove the warlords from their last stronghold on Monday and almost all have since submitted to the courts union.

"Ethiopia is the No. 1 country that has contributed to instability in Somalia," he said, declining to confirm or deny the widely believed rumors that Ethiopian troops could be poised to cross the border.

The Islamic Courts Union invited international news media, including The Associated Press, to meet with the group's leader and see what they have accomplished in terms of restoring law and order to Mogadishu. The group provided security.

The transitional federal government has very little military power and is based in Baidoa, 155 miles northwest of the capital, Mogadishu. Yusuf, a former warlord, asked for Ethiopian troops to back up his government in 2002.

Somalis have reported seeing Ethiopian helicopters and planes flying over the country. Ethiopian officials have consistently denied having any dealings with Somalia.

Omar denied that his group had any intentions of setting up a competing national government and that its goals were limited to ending anarchy and violence in the country of 8 million people.

The internationally backed "government was formed as a government of reconciliation, we are also ready to reconcile," he said. "If they are ready to talk, then we can hold negotiations and reach a compromise."

He also denied that his group was sheltering internationally wanted terrorists. He said extremists may exist in Somalia, but that he knew of no foreign terrorists in the country.

Omar said that all Somalis were Muslim, their culture was Islam, and that he expected any new government to recognize that fact, but he insisted he wanted Somalis to decide what form a new government should take.

But there appeared to be some division within the union.

Sheik Ali Deere, an influential cleric who founded the first Islamic court in 1996, told the demonstration: "We want to work (as a group) on the basis of Islam. We are against a secular constitution and foreign intervention."

Such rhetoric has fueled concerns that Islamic extremists will establish a Taliban-style government. President Bush has express concern about Somalia becoming a haven for terrorists.

U.S. officials have acknowledged backing the warlords against the Islamic group. In response to the Islamic militia's growing power, the United States convened a meeting on Somalia in New York on Thursday.

The meeting concluded with the U.S.-organized group of nations lending its support to Somalia's transitional government and demanding unfettered access so aid groups can help Somalia's impoverished people.