Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
Aweys Osman Yusuf
23 December 2006
Mogadishu — Officials of the Islamic Courts, who held a press conference in the capital Mogadishu, called on Muslim fighters around the world to come to Somalia and help the Islamist movement to fight with Ethiopian troops in the country.
Sheik Yusuf Mohammed Siad Indho-adde, the Islamic Courts defence chief said, "The country is open to all Muslim jihadists worldwide. We call them to come to Somalia and continue their holy war in Somalia. We welcome any one, who can remove the Ethiopian enemy, to enter our country," he said.
He stressed the fight was going on between Ethiopia and Islamic Courts.
The Ethiopian government has accused the Islamic Courts of links to al-Qaeda. Addis Ababa said the call for foreign fighters proved the militancy of Islamists in Somalia.
The Islamic Courts call for foreign Muslim fighters came as the bitter fighting between the Ethiopian backed government troops and Islamists entered the fifth day with both sides claiming victory.
Dozens were killed and hundreds more wounded in the fighting.
Latest reports
Islamic Courts alleged they seized Tiyoglow in Bakol province, about 400 km (254 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu.
Sheik Ibrahim Shukri, Islamic Courts spokesperson, said they reached and occupied Tiyogloiw without resistance. "We were welcomed in the area and they have asked us to impose the Islamic law on Tiyoglow", he said.
Tiyoglow that was administered by neither the government nor Islamists is the first area in Bakol province seized by the Islamic movements.
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