Aweys
Osman
Yusuf
Mogadishu
-Former
Somalia's
defense
minister,
Col.
Barre
Aden
Hirale,
said he
was
determined
to be
impartial
in the
ongoing
political
challenge
and gun
battles
between
his
Marehan
sub-clan
and
Majerteen
in the
port
city of
Ksimayu,
500
kilometers
south of
the
Somalia
capital,
Mogadishu.
In an
interview
with
Shabelle
on
Tuesday,
Hirale,
who now
lives in
his home
town of
Bardheere
in Gedo
province,
near the
Kenyan
border,
said he
believed
that
some of
the
T.F.G
officials
were not
honest
and
neutral
in the
ongoing
conflict
in
Kismayu.
He said
the
government's
unfair
position
in the
conflict
could
only
exacerbate
the
tense
situation.
"The
government
should
send a
joint
federal
delegation
to
soothe
the
situation
and the
people
in
Kismayu
should
think
about
their
future,"
he said.
Hirale
has also
indicated
that he
was back
from a
short
trip to
the
region,
resolving
clan
discrepancies.
"I say
it is
always
important
to be
part of
the
solution
and I
believe
that
it's the
duty of
the
Somali
transitional
federal
government
to solve
the
country's
tribal
fighting
that
certainly
seems
intensifying
in
Somalia
lately,"
he said.
On June
22, more
than 20
people
were
killed
and over
40 were
wounded
after
the
sub-clans
skirmished
in the
port
town.
The
leaders
of both
clans
have
been
challenging
over the
administration
of
Kismayu
since
the
T.F.G.
backed
by its
Ethiopian
allied
troops
routed
out the
Union of
Islamic
Courts
in early
this
year.
Marehan
clan
militiamen
now
control
Kismayu
while
rival
clan
militias
are
based on
the
outskirt
of the
town,
according
to our
correspondent,
Mohammed
Ahmed.