Kenya vows to continue crackdown against Somali warlords

Kenya vowed Thursday to continue crackdown against Somali warlords, warning that those who use Kenya's territory to destabilize a neighboring state would find its soil a "hostile ground."

The latest warning came a day after the east African nation launched a fresh crackdown against Somali warlords, accusing them of using Nairobi as a haven to organize illegal activities and receive funding to advance the war in Mogadishu.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua told a news conference that Kenya is negotiating with the members of the regional peace mediation body, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development ( IGAD) to slap travel sanctions against Somali warlords and desist supporting any factions fighting against the nascent administration based in Baidoa, about 250 km southwest of Somali capital Mogadishu.

"Kenya government reiterates that whoever wants to support any group in Somalia should do so through the internationally recognized Transitional Government of Somalia," Mutua told reporters.

The Kenyan Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the total ban on Somali warlords responsible for the latest vicious fighting in Mogadishu from entering Kenyan territory Tuesday night, saying they were undermining Nairobi's peace efforts in Somalia.

"The government of Kenya, has with immediate effect, imposed a total ban on all forms of travel into Kenya by Somali warlords and their associates," said a statement .

Somali warlord Abdirashid Hussein Shire, whose Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu was allegedly used as the command center for the latest atrocities in the volatile capital, was arrested hours after the ban was announced and deported.

Kenya, which chairs IGAD, said it had engaged the members of the peace body, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Djibouti, to impose similar travel bans.

Kenyan officials say the ban covers the warlords, some of who are serving ministers in the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and their associates.

Kenyan officials say the travel ban would help curb the effects of the latest flare up in fighting from spilling over to Kenya.

"We are not seeing a spillover effect from this war to Kenya but we want to incapacitate the warlords so that we curtail this fighting from creating too many refugees," Mutua said.

Somali Islamic Courts, which claimed to have won the battle for Mogadishu against a Somali warlord alliance, issued a statement Wednesday, denying that they supported terror groups.

The Islamic militia is gaining ground just as the UN-backed interim government struggles to assert control outside its base in Baidoa.

The Islamists have set up new Sharia law courts in the lawless Mogadishu on Thursday in and around the city.

Despite assurances they will not forcibly impose strict Islamic rule on the Horn of Africa nation's largely moderate Muslim population, Islamists reportedly created at least three new Sharia courts in formerly secular areas since Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua