Hiiraan Online
Friday, July 10, 2009
MOGADISHU (HOL) - Somalia’s Prime Minister Mr. Omar Abdirashid Sharma-arke has warned that unless the international community comes to the aid of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, the government will collapse and the country will be taken over by extremists.
Somali PM Omar Abdirashid
The Prime Minister said that chaos and lack of central government has allowed foreign fighters to flood into Somalia and that his moderate Islamic government needs international assistance in battling these
extremists.
“We do not have the power to fight foreign fighters who are coming into the country in large numbers and that is why we asked the international community to assist us so that we can save the country” said the Prime Minister. “We cannot defeat these extremists when they are better armed than we are” added Prime Minister Omar.
Senior officers who spoke on behalf of AMISOM also said that thousands of foreign fighters are in Somalia now and are providing financial and military support to Al-Shabaab and other extremist groups. Similarly, a spokesman for the US State Department also said that foreign fighters are fighting alongside Muslim extremist in Somalia intent of overthrowing the moderate Islamic government of Somalia.
Although the US and Somalia governments differ on the number of foreign fighters present in Somalia, they, however, share a common concern that Somalia’s TFG may fall and the country may be taken over by Al-Shabaab which is seen in the west as an extremist group and accused of links with Al-Qaida.