Somalia offers amnesty to militants in Mogadishu

Somalia offers amnesty to militants in Mogadishu

Somalia offered an amnesty to militants still fighting in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, three days after the country's president declared victory over the insurgent al Shabaab group, which has withdrawn most of its combatants from the city.

It was the first time the interim government, which has struggled to quash a four-year Islamist rebellion, had offered immunity to al Shabaab fighters.

"The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia has offered a general amnesty to insurgent fighters remaining in Mogadishu who give themselves up and renounce violence," the government said in a statement.

Some experts say al Shabaab's pull-out merely extends the government's hold on the capital by a few districts, but will do little to bring tangible peace to the rest of the anarchic country and may herald a new wave of al Qaeda-inspired attacks.

The amnesty did not appear to extend to al Shabaab fighters outside the capital. The al Qaeda-affiliated militants control much of southern Somalia where 2.8 million people face starvation because of drought and conflict.

Al Shabaab called its retreat from Mogadishu tactical and said its bloody struggle to topple the Western-backed government would continue.

Somali refugees pack capital after rebels quit

Meanwhile, thousands of Somali refugees, fleeing famine and years of violence, streamed into Mogadishu on Monday searching for food after Islamist rebels withdrew from the capital.

The al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab insurgents began pulling their fighters out of Mogadishu over the weekend, raising hopes that humanitarian groups would be able to step up aid deliveries after years of blockages by the militant group.

Fleeing to danger zone

Locals told reporters that long lines of refugees were now heading to the battle-scarred city to escape the region's worst drought in decades, and existing supplies were already running low.

The United Nations says about 3.6 million people are at risk of starvation in Somalia and about 12 million people across the Horn of Africa region, including Ethiopia and Kenya.

"Now thousands are on the way from Bakool and Bay (regions) to Mogadishu," Sherif Isaka, at the refugee in Badbaado camp on the outskirts of the capital, said.

"I cannot say it will rain but I am sure life will improve if al Shabaab melts away. More agencies will come and people will get food and jobs," he said.

Al Shabaab withdrew four years into their battle to overthrow Somalia's Western-backed government, an insurgency that has driven the chaotic country deeper into anarchy.

The militants, hostile to any Western intervention, have blocked humanitarian deliveries in the past, saying aid creates dependency.

Aid agencies say they have been unable to reach more than 2 million Somalis facing starvation in rebel-held territories.

Accessing relief materials

Days after al Shabaab's departure, the first of three flights from the UN refugee agency UNHCR landed in Mogadishu on Monday, carrying more than 31 tonnes of shelter material, including blankets and jerricans for water.

Local officials said they were cautiously hopeful.

"If ongoing aid flights keep coming to Mogadishu, we are optimistic that people will survive," Fartun Abdisalan Adam, a local rights group official told reporters in Mogadishu.

But existing supplies were running low.

"The refugees are still storming the capital in search of food and there is not enough food for them to survive in the capital," she added.

REUTERS/Susan/Williams