Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Baltimore Sun
December 16, 2006
BAIDOA, Somalia--Peace talks with Somalia's Islamic movement are no longer an option, the president said yesterday, warning that the group is allowing al-Qaida terrorists to "set up shop" in the Horn of Africa. Tension has mounted in recent weeks between Somalia's government, which has international recognition but little authority, and the Council of Islamic Courts, which controls most of southern Somalia. The United States has said the Islamic movement has links to al-Qaida; Islamic leaders have repeatedly denied it. Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, plunging the country into anarchy. The government was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but it has struggled to assert its authority.
December 16, 2006
BAIDOA, Somalia--Peace talks with Somalia's Islamic movement are no longer an option, the president said yesterday, warning that the group is allowing al-Qaida terrorists to "set up shop" in the Horn of Africa. Tension has mounted in recent weeks between Somalia's government, which has international recognition but little authority, and the Council of Islamic Courts, which controls most of southern Somalia. The United States has said the Islamic movement has links to al-Qaida; Islamic leaders have repeatedly denied it. Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, plunging the country into anarchy. The government was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but it has struggled to assert its authority.