From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Sep 15 2008 - 09:43:42 EDT
Somali Islamist militia orders Mogadishu airport closure
September 15, 2008
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somalia's hardline Islamist militia, Al-Shebab, has issued
an ultimatum urging all traffic in and out of Mogadishu airport to cease as
of Tuesday.
The extremist group argued in a statement posted on the Internet and
confirmed to AFP by its leader Mukhtar Robow that the airport was one of the
main tools of Ethiopia's "occupation" of Somalia.
"The airport is used by Ugandan and Burundian mercenaries and there is a
plan to bring more troops who could take part in the occupation of Somalia,"
the organisation said.
The airport is the main base for the Ugandan contingent of the African Union
peacekeepers in the lawless country. The Ugandans were reinforced by a
Burundian contingent of AU troops earlier this year.
"The airport is generating money that helps Ethiopian troops get revenue,
the premise is under the direct control of Ethiopian troops," it said.
"The facility is also being used by US and Israeli secret services and
Somali religious personalities are being harassed at the airport without
reason," it charged.
"Therefore, the Shebab are warning Somali businessmen that the airport is
officially closed from September 16," the statement said, adding that the
warning was addressed to airline managers in particular.
"Any plane attempting to land at the airport will be regarded as an enemy
combatant and would have to assume responsibility for anything that happens
to it," Al-Shebab added.
The organisation did not elaborate on what action it could take against
planes choosing to use the airport beyond the deadline but foreign
intelligence sources told AFP in Nairobi that the militia was believed to
have recently acquired more surface-to-air missiles.
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