A Somali political analyst says the
escalating clashes between hard line insurgents and the government is a
religious war to win the hearts and minds of the youth.
Abdullahi Ali said the
hard line insurgents, including al-Shabab are determined to demonstrate that
they are more devout Muslims than the government.
This comes after the insurgents rejected a
government olive branch gesture calling for a ceasefire during the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan.
The insurgents described the gesture as a calculated attempt
by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's administration to use religion as a
cover to re-arm government troops.
Ali told VOA that the
insurgents see President Sharif Ahmed as a traitor.
"The
opposition seems to be blaming the government for trying to re-arm themselves during the
month of Ramadan. And as Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told a news conference, they seem not to be in the process of
stopping war during the month of Ramadan," Ali said.
He said it is
unclear what the insurgents want to prove.
"You ask yourself
is this really anything to do with religion or is it to do with power struggle?
So it seems that both sides are trying to play more time so that they can
settle scores, presumably after Ramadan. So, both are trying to re-arm
themselves," he said.
Ali said the insurgents are determined to
overthrow the Somali government.
"Al-Shabab is a
group of very different clans who have merged to try to oppose the
Djibouti-formed government. There are a lot of them who are right wing … so
they see the government as infidels who are being propped up by western powers
and they see them as non-viable in Somalia," Ali said.
He said the
ongoing insurgency should be a lesson for all.
"What the
international community needs to understand is why are all these people
fighting the government and are not trying to negotiate. Well, you can say its
power struggle or you can say it is the difference in Islamic opinion or the
interpretation of how to govern by Sharia… so you can distill it to a power
struggle," he said.
Ali said the
insurgents do not repose confidence in the Somali administration.
"They don't trust
the government as such because they see Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who used to be a
former Islamist of the Islamic Courts Union and he has deserted them. So, they
see him as being a traitor," Ali said.
Ali said the
ongoing clashes could be attributed to failed leadership in Somalia.
Somalia has been
without an effective government since the overthrow of former long-time leader
Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991.