ia (Reuters) — Somali insurgents on Sunday rejected a government call for a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, accusing the president of trying to use religion as a cover for rearming his troops.President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel, had called for an end to fighting during Ramadan.
“We will not accept that cease-fire call,” Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Hizbul Islam, told a news conference. “This holy month will be a triumphant time for mujahedeen, and we will fight the enemy.”
Many analysts see Sheik Sharif’s government, backed by the United Nations, as the country’s best hope for a return to stability after 18 years of conflict, but it holds just pockets of the capital and parts of the south. Insurgent groups including Al Shabab, which Washington says is Al Qaeda’s proxy, have controlled most of the south for months....MORE..http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/world/africa/24somalia.html?_r=1
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