Confusion in Baidoa undermines security

Confusion affecting loyalties and decision-making within the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) in Baidoa, southern Somalia, has led to a deterioration in security. Sources in Baidoa told IRIN that reported sackings of local officials was reflective of the "indecision" of Hasan Muhammad Nur 'Shatigadud', the military leader of the RRA. The governor of Bay Region, Muhammad Ali Adan, had been dismissed, the source confirmed. Also dismissed had been the RRA liaison officer and the commander of the militia. The Mogadishu-based 'Qaran' daily said Baidoa District Commissioner Ali Roble, the Bay regional police chief and the treasurer had also been fired, although no official announcement had been made. 'Shatigadud' announced his opposition to the government after initially being elected an MP during the Djibouti-hosted talks. He travelled to New York with the new president, but later returned to Baidoa, withdrew his support, and arrested those who had attended the Djibouti elections. According to sources in Baidoa, insecurity in the town had increased with militia "getting out of hand" and shooting around the town. Roadblocks had sprung up near the town. Although the three remaining leaders of the RRA had come out in opposition to the government, there was some popular support for it, said the source. Former RRA Secretary-General Abdullah Derow Isak - elected as the new government's Speaker of Parliament - was insisting that he would go to Baidoa for talks with the RRA leadership and 'Shatigadud'. He had said he wanted to negotiate an agreement, but would visit his home town and talk to elders even if the RRA opposed him on this. Much now hangs on the talks being held in Addis Ababa between Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the new Somali president, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan. Ethiopia has openly backed the RRA. But the Ethiopian government would be "happy to support someone more powerful if it suited their interests", diplomatic sources told IRIN.