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Somali Islamists seize key port
Islamists in control of much of southern Somalia have seized a key port without any fighting, in a new blow to the country's weak interim government.
Residents said fighters from the Islamic Courts Group (ICG) drove into Hobyo at dawn to take control of the town.
A surrender was negotiated the previous evening with forces there loyal to the local commander, who had reportedly already left the area.
An ICG official in Mogadishu told Reuters news agency: "We have extended our reach to Hobyo. We did not capture it, but we reached the people of Hobyo to bring them our message of peace."
Over the weekend, ICG fighters also took the port of Haradere, further south, from where bands of pirates had staged scores of attacks on commercial ships off the Somali coast.
Meanwhile on Tuesday there were reports that up to 150 soldiers in Somalia's army had defected to the Islamist militia from their base in Baidoa, the provisional government's seat north-west of Mogadishu.
Talks delayed
The defections come as tensions have risen between the internationally backed but largely powerless government and the ICG, which is rapidly expanding its territory.
On Tuesday, proposed talks between both sides in Sudan, to be mediated by the Arab League, were delayed again after the Islamists renewed demands for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops allegedly in Somalia to protect the government.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CE2AF927-FA4B-4A90-9823-C5418D794839.htm
A surrender was negotiated the previous evening with forces there loyal to the local commander, who had reportedly already left the area.
An ICG official in Mogadishu told Reuters news agency: "We have extended our reach to Hobyo. We did not capture it, but we reached the people of Hobyo to bring them our message of peace."
Over the weekend, ICG fighters also took the port of Haradere, further south, from where bands of pirates had staged scores of attacks on commercial ships off the Somali coast.
Meanwhile on Tuesday there were reports that up to 150 soldiers in Somalia's army had defected to the Islamist militia from their base in Baidoa, the provisional government's seat north-west of Mogadishu.
Talks delayed
The defections come as tensions have risen between the internationally backed but largely powerless government and the ICG, which is rapidly expanding its territory.
On Tuesday, proposed talks between both sides in Sudan, to be mediated by the Arab League, were delayed again after the Islamists renewed demands for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops allegedly in Somalia to protect the government.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CE2AF927-FA4B-4A90-9823-C5418D794839.htm
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Eyewitnesses from the town of Hobyo say heavily armed Islamic courts militiamen moved in at dawn without any fighting.
But Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told the BBC that neither he nor his fighters had entered the town.
The Islamists have taken control of most of central and southern Somalia since seizing the capital in June after defeating an alliance of warlords.
Attempts to get the transitional government and Islamic courts to go to Sudan for peace talks have so far failed.
Welcome
The town of Hobyo is close to the autonomous Puntland region, whose administration is hostile to the Islamic courts.
It has warned its population against supporting the Islamist advance.
Hundreds of fighters travelling on armed pick-ups arrived in Hobyo at dawn, according to reports.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4797573.stm