Islamic militia says Mogadishu captured   (AP)  Updated: 2006-06-05 21:08  
An Islamic militia said Monday it has seized Somalia's capital after weeks of 
some of the bloodiest fighting in 15 years of anarchy in this Horn of Africa 
nation.  
  
Members of a Somali Islamic Court militia 
examine captured weapons in Bal'ad area after clashes with a self-styled 
anti-terrorism coalition of warlords June 4, 2006. [Reuters]  
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, said his 
forces have fought off a secular alliance of warlords who have been trying to 
retain their grip on Somalia. The militia appeared in control of the capital, 
which was calm Monday.   
 
 
 
"We want to restore peace and stability to Mogadishu. We are ready to meet 
and talk to anybody and any group for the interest of the people," Ahmed said on 
a radio broadcast. 
 Attempts to reach the alliance were not immediately successful; most leaders 
appeared to have fled the city by Monday afternoon. 
 The Islamic militias have made steady gains in recent days, seizing the 
alliance base of Balad on Sunday and enlisting former alliance commanders. Their 
growing power is raising fears that the nation could fall under the sway of 
al-Qaida, like Afghanistan did under the Taliban. 
 The recent surge in violence started last month, killing more than 300 people 
and wounding 1,700, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire. The 
fundamentalists accuse their rivals of working for the CIA, while the alliance 
says the militias have links to al-Qaida. 
 The United States is widely believed to be backing the alliance but American 
officials have refused to confirm or deny that, saying only that they will 
support those who fight terrorism. The United States has carried out no direct 
military action in Somalia since a 1993 intervention resulted in the deaths of 
18 servicemen. 
 Somalia has had no effective government since warlords overthrew longtime 
dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, carving 
this impoverished nation of an estimated 8 million people into rival fiefdoms. 
 A U.N.-backed interim government has failed to assert control from its base 
in Baidoa, 155 miles from Mogadishu.   
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