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Somalia war could spread, U.N. warns
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- The takeover of Somalia's capital by Islamic militias could lead to a regional conflict unless the international community resolves Somalia's 15-year-old civil war, the top U.N. envoy to the country warned Monday. Since the Islamic Courts Union captured Mogadishu, Ethiopia has moved troops toward its border with Somalia and could intervene if the ICU moves on Baidoa, the seat of Somalia's transitional government, Francois Lonseny Fall said. "If something is not done now, this conflict might have some regional dimension, and the Security Council might need to take more action," Fall warned. He urged the international community, "particularly the neighboring countries" of the Horn of Africa, to help stop the fighting and protect Baidoa. "If we lose Baidoa today, we will lose all the peace process, and we will have to go back for many years," he said. The ICU has accused Ethiopian troops of entering Somalia. Fall said there was no clear indication that such an advance had occurred, but that reports that the ICU was moving its forces toward the Ethiopian frontier prompted Ethiopia to send troops to its border with Somalia. Somalia's last functioning government collapsed in 1991, and the U.N.-backed transitional government in Baidoa wields little power. The Islamic Courts Union is a militia that backs the imposition of Shariah, or strict Islamic law, in Somalia. It seized control of Mogadishu this month from a coalition of secular warlords. Fall said U.N. officials are trying to learn more about the ICU's leaders, both to find a negotiating partner and to determine whether the group was likely to allow its territory to become a base for terrorism. "We know that, of course, there are some extremists among them, but all the members of the Shariah courts are not extremists," he said. The ICU says it is willing to hold talks with the transitional government, but its leader, Sheikh Sharif Ahmad, said his movement would not accept the government's call for a new international peacekeeping mission. U.N. officials are concerned that the increased fighting could create a new humanitarian crisis, and the United States fears the country could become a new haven for the al Qaeda terror network. A senior Bush administration official said the United States has provided unspecified support for the Somali warlords who fought the ICU. The warlords styled themselves as an anti-terrorist alliance, but many observers say the policy backfired. "Psychologically, people saw this as an invasion or support to the warlords to suppress Islam," said Elmi Ahmed Dualeh, the transitional government's U.N. ambassador. Last week the United States joined Norway, the European Union and other countries to launch a new "contact group" for Somali issues. The group urged support for the transitional government but pledged to foster "existing positive relationships with Somali actors." On Monday, African Union officials also held talks on Somalia in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Britain, meanwhile, urged all parties to avoid further military action. "The UK calls on all Somalia's neighbors to refrain from any action which could increase tensions in the area and to respect the integrity of Somalia's border in accordance with the U.N. Security Council's numerous resolutions on Somalia," David Triesman, Britain's Africa minister, said in a written statement. CNN's Richard Roth contributed to this report. 
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