MOGADISHU, SOMALIA — As Somalia's parliament prepared to convene for the first time since the transitional government took control of this capital last week, the prime minister vowed Thursday to begin seizing heavy weapons in Mogadishu, by force if necessary.
Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi predicted that the gun collection would go peacefully, however, saying the government had reached deals with major businesspeople and warlords holding about 60% of the city's weapons.
During a three-day grace period that ended Thursday, fewer than 50 Mogadishu residents turned in their guns, in a city of 2.5 million.
Gedi said the government would first focus on collecting heavy weapons, such as trucks mounted with antiaircraft guns, known here as technicals, and armored vehicles. The effort will then be expanded to include assault rifles and handguns owned by individuals. An aide said the government had identified about 400 technicals in the city that authorities planned to seize today.
"We are targeting those sites," Gedi said, after presiding over the swearing-in of newly appointed judges at a Mogadishu courthouse. "We will not start with house-to-house [searches].... The stakeholders are ready to cooperate and hand over" weapons.
The government is scrambling to complete disarmament as quickly as possible, while it still has the support of more than 4,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia.
Since Somalian and Ethiopian troops seized the capital from Islamist fighters, the government has moved slowly to fill the security vacuum. About 2,000 government soldiers are based around Mogadishu, only half the number needed to secure the city, Gedi said. About 500 newly trained police officers are en route from Baidoa, which has served as the government's interim capital. Somalia is negotiating to bring in African Union peacekeepers from Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa.
Residents and major clans have voiced reluctance to give up their guns until they are assured that the government can keep the peace. Over the last week, militias loyal to warlords have reasserted control in some neighborhoods. For the first time since the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of Muslim leaders, took power in June, gunfire now echoes through the streets again several times a day.
