Guns silent as Somali Islamists' deadline passes (Reuters)

Guns silent as Somali Islamists' deadline passes

By Hassan Yare
Reuters
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; 8:17 AM

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Guns were silent in the sole stronghold of Somalia's
interim government on Tuesday as an Islamist deadline to Ethiopian troops to leave
or face holy war passed with conciliatory signs.

Around the dusty agricultural trading post where Somalia's shaky government conducts
business from a converted warehouse, residents reported calm despite the threat by the
country's Islamist movement.

-snip-

The Somali Islamic Courts Council (SICC) said they wanted peace talks, and backed off a
threat by defense chief Yusuf Mohamed Siad "Inda'ade" that gave the Ethiopians a week
to leave -- thrusting war fears into overdrive.

"We want the talks to continue and the Ethiopian troops to leave," SICC spokesman
Abdirahman Ali Mudey said. "We did not mean we will attack them if they don't pull out
but that talks cannot go ahead unless they pull out."

-snip-