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Mogadishu
mayor says gov’t has
boosted security
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 MOGADISHU(August
23,2007) - Somalia's
fledgling interim government has committed all its resources to restoring
stability in the capital Mogadishu during major reconciliation talks
threatened by Islamist insurgents, the mayor said.
Mohamed Omar Habeeb "Dheere" told Reuters in an interview
late on Tuesday that security had improved in a city mostly in chaos
since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
"Hundreds used to die," the former warlord said. "Only
a few people die these days from pistol and grenade attacks. We hope
to end these minor attacks as soon as possible.
"Most of our resources go to security in order to return peace
to the city. We expect to deploy more police officers in the streets."
But Mogadishu remains one of the world's most dangerous cities, with
Islamist rebels and clan militia fighting a guerrilla war against
government troops and their Ethiopian military allies.
In the latest violence, residents said seven civilians were killed
in separate attacks across the capital on Tuesday. Two of them died
in a landmine blast at one of the squalid camps on the outskirts of
the city populated by displaced families.
Dheere said his forces had reliable intelligence that "terrorists"
were hiding in those camps.
"We will go after them wherever they are for the sake of security
of the region," he said.
The insurgency is blamed on remnants of a hardline Islamic Courts
movement chased out of Mogadishu by a joint Somali and Ethiopian force
at the start of the year.
The United Nations-backed interim government is hosting a major reconciliation
conference aimed at kick-starting a peace process. But the talks are
being boycotted by Islamist leaders.
And late on Saturday the meeting was marred by the killing of a top
clan leader and key player in the bid to unite Somalia's disparate
factions that triggered fears of reprisals.
On Monday, a landmine blast injured four civilians near the venue
of the meeting, then insurgents attacked a police patrol in the north
of the city, wounding at least seven people.
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