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 (Al-Jazeera): Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts
has accused neighbouring Ethiopia of shelling a town about 630km
north of the capital, Mogadishu.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, an Islamic courts leader, told a crowd
of more than 10,000 people: "Ethiopian soldiers have massed around
Bandiradley and started firing missiles toward our positions.
"Their tanks are trying to surround the area and now they are about
10km away from the town where our fighters are based." The claim
could not be immediately verified.
 The
Islamic courts seized Bandiradley earlier this month from a local
militia allied to Somalia's transitional government. The government,
though backed by Ethiopia, is largely powerless. The move took the
Islamic courts to within 100km of the semi-autonomous region of
Puntland, where the authorities have vowed to resist their advance.
Puntland has ties with Ethiopia, and when Bandiradley fell on
November 12, residents of the region's main town, Galkayo, reported
large movements of Puntland troops accompanied by Ethiopian military
convoys.
UN peacekeepers meeting
The protests in Mogadishu were before a planned United Nations
Security Council meeting which is expected to discuss a resolution
on the deployment of peacekeepers to Somalia.
Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siyad Indhaade, the national security chairman
for the Islamic courts, said: "Our door of jihad is open for all
Muslims around the world if the Security Council approves the
deployment of foreign troops in Somalia.
"We call on the world to avoid a war that will affect the Horn of
Africa."
Sheikh Fu'ad Mohammed Khalaf, the head of the Islamic courts'
education department, said: "When the first shot is fired, all
schools and universities will be closed and students and teachers
will go to jihad."
Experts say Somalia could become a proxy battleground for Ethiopia
and Eritrea, which broke away from Ethiopia in a 1961-91 civil war
and then fought another 1998-2000 border war with its rival.
Eritrea supports the Islamic courts, while Ethiopia backs the
interim government.
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11:00 GMT
