By Guled Mohamed
Friday, February 09, 2007
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MOGADISHU, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters in Mogadishu threatened to attack African peacekeepers and burned flags of nations supporting the idea on Friday even as international diplomats urged speedy deployment of such a force.
Underscoring the volatility in the Horn of Africa nation, a rocket slammed into a Mogadishu hotel after dark, shattering the reception area and terrifying occupants including top officials.
"Thank God I'm alive ... I heard a big explosion, I was in my room, I don't know if anyone has been wounded or killed," said a woman at the hotel, adding the reception area was busy when she had left it a few minutes before the attack.
After a day-long meeting in Tanzania, the U.S.-formed International Contact Group called on the world to back and fund an African mission to stabilise Somalia following the ouster of Islamists from power in the south in a war over the New Year.
"The Contact Group appeals to the international community to provide urgent support to the African Union (AU) and the troop-contributing countries to permit rapid deployment," said a statement from the group, which includes the United States, European and African nations.
Although only about 4,000 of the hoped-for 8,000 troops have been pledged, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said deployment would hopefully happen fast so Ethiopian troops who helped the Somali government topple the Islamists may exit.
"We all recognise the need for an urgent deployment of the AU mission in Somalia. We have been creating conditions for deployment," he told reporters in Dar es Salaam.
Uganda was the first country to offer troops, though its parliament still has to ratify that. Nigeria and Burundi have also expressed willingness to contribute.
Who foots the bill, however, is unclear.
"There are already ongoing preparations in Uganda and in Addis (Ababa) for the air-lifting of troops in the next few days and in the weeks to come if conditions are met," Djinnit added.
"YOU WILL FACE DEATH"
In the Somali capital, about 800 residents took to the streets after Friday prayers to protest against the plan. Flags of the United States, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi were burned amid chants of "God is Great."
"The burnt flags are a message for you before you arrive," one masked protester said. "You still have an opportunity to avoid coming. You will face explosions and death."
Such threats underlined the fears in many African capitals that a peacekeeping force could become a target for Muslim radicals including foreign jihadists in a nation in chaos and anarchy since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.
Washington, which has acknowledged two air strikes in south Somalia in recent weeks targeting al Qaeda suspects among fugitive Islamists, is strongly backing the idea of an African force in a country it fears could be a haven for terrorists.
"We need to, like a laser, focus on supporting the sovereign transitional federal government and the Somali people," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said at the meeting's start in Dar es Salaam.
Frazer expressed concern at the spate of guerrilla-style mortar attacks against Somali government and Ethiopian military positions in Mogadishu in recent weeks.
The government has blamed remnants of the ousted Islamic Courts, some of whom have vowed a holy war.
Civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.
Security officials said Friday's latest attack, on the Global Hotel in north Mogadishu, had hit the reception and shattered windows. "There must be people wounded," one said.
Under Western pressure to reach out to all parties in Somalia, including moderate Islamists and the powerful clans, President Abdullahi Yusuf has agreed to call a national reconciliation conference.
(Additional reporting by George Obulutusa in Dar es Salaam)
Source: Reuters, Feb 09, 2007