From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Nov 30 2009 - 09:40:45 EST
Fighting pushes Somalis, Islamist rebels, into Kenya
Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:48am GMT
* Al Shabaab says spoke with Hizbul leader in Dhobley
* Says other Hizbul leaders fled into Kenya
By Noor Ali
ISIOLO, Kenya, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Somali refugees have fled to
Kenya after rebels suspected of links to al Qaeda seized a Somali town near
the border, residents said.
Al Shabaab insurgents, who Washington says are a proxy for Osama bin Laden's
group in Somalia, took control of Dhobley on Saturday after chasing rival
Hizbul Islam rebels out of town.
Al Shabaab said a number of Hizbul Islam leaders had also sought shelter
across the border in Kenya after the fighting.
"A group of Somalis sneaked in late last night but three trucks with more
than 200 Somalis were intercepted by patrol officers at dawn today and all
those on board taken back to the border," said Abdirizak, a Kenyan resident
near the border.
There were also fears among Kenyan residents that al Shabaab might carry the
fight across the border.
"We are worried. Al Shabaab has threatened to attack Kenya. They are very
close and some of us might leave the border area."
A senior al Shabaab official said in June the insurgents might "invade"
Kenya unless it reduced troop numbers along the border near places such as
Dhobley. [ID:nLB249759]
Police deputy commander for the region, Paul Kuria, said security officials
were patrolling the frontier.
Al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Hassan Yaqub told Reuters that some Hizbul Islam
leaders were also now sheltering in Kenya.
The two rebel groups have been fighting the Western-backed government in the
capital Mogadishu, but a battle for control of the lucrative southern port
of Kismayu has pitted the former allies against each other.
"I can confirm that Ibrahim Shugri, Moalim Mohamed and Hassan Mahdi passed
the so called border between Kenya and Somalia and have reached Garissa," he
said, referring to Hizbul Islam leaders.
"Our intelligence informed us they had a meeting with Kenyan officers in a
hotel and they want to go on to Nairobi. We've been fighting them because
they were sent here from Kenya."
Yaqub said that al Shabaab had also met Sheikh Hassan Turki, in Dhobley. The
hardline cleric is on a U.S. list of al Qaeda associates in Somalia.
Turki is Hizbul deputy leader and the commander of southern Somalia's Ras
Kamboni militant group. He denounced al Shabaab in September for
unilaterally declaring they would run Kismayu.
"Some our officials met Hassan Turki in Dhobley, and as you know, Turki is
one of the brave Islamist leaders in east Africa. They spoke with him about
current issues," Yaqub said.
The purpose of the meeting was unclear, but if al Shabaab rebels convince
Turki to join them, it would be a blow to Hizbul leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir
Aweys.
(Additional reporting by Ibrahim Mohamed and Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu;
Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura) ((For Interactive factbox on Somalia
please click
<http://uk.reuters.com/news/factbox?fj=20090825142344.js&fn=Conflict%20and%2
0strife%20in%20bloody%20Somalia%20> here)) ((Email:
nairobi.newsroom@reuters.com; tel: +254 20 222 4717)) (For more Reuters
Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit:
<http://af.reuters.com/> af.reuters.com/))
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----