Puntland capital calm but "extremely tense"

The town of Garowe, the capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, was reported to be calm, but tense on Monday following heavy fighting in the city last Wednesday, a local journalist has told IRIN. Garowe was captured last week from the forces of the recently elected president of Puntland, Jama Ali Jama, by those of the region's former leader, Col Abdullahi Yusuf. Farah Yusuf Nur of Midnimo radio, who is based in Garowe, on Monday said the town was quiet, but "extremely tense", with people waiting to see how things develop. Farah said: "A continuous meeting of elders is trying to resolve matters and defuse tension". The elders had reportedly set up a committee "to contain the situation", but it had so far said nothing about what it was planning to do, he added. Other sources told IRIN that the elders were in a difficult position. "They do not want to be seen supporting Abdullahi Yusuf's action, but at the same time they want to avoid bloodshed," said one of them. They believed that in the end the elders were bound to uphold the process which led to the election of Jama Ali Jama. "The elders must therefore find ways of removing Abdullahi Yusuf without any more bloodshed. One way or another this impasse has to be resolved. It cannot go on for much longer," the sources stressed. Abdullahi Yusuf's forces were still in control of Garowe, another source told IRIN on Monday. "They are concentrated on the southern outskirts of Garowe, manning all the checkpoints and the airport," he said. Yet another source told IRIN on Monday that Puntland President Jama Ali Jama was now in Bosaso, the region's commercial capital, 480 km north of Garowe. He was reportedly "organising and mobilising his forces". The source said: "These forces will certainly attack Yusuf's positions if the elders fail to persuade him to leave peacefully." Most of the people who fled Garowe last week in fear of renewed clashes had not returned, he said, adding that the town looked as if it no longer contained any women and children. The Agence France Press (AFP) news agency on Friday quoted witnesses as saying that Abdullahi Yusuf's attack on the city had been backed by one thousand Ethiopian troops supported by armoured vehicles, but on Saturday said that those troops had subsequently withdrawn. A spokesman at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs meanwhile was quoted by the BBC on Friday as saying that the AFP report was totally unfounded. "I can tell you for a fact that not a single Ethiopian soldier is inside Puntland or Somalia," said the spokesman. Ethiopia has consistently refuted accusations over recent years that its troops are involved in the fighting in Somalia.