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Somali Government Postpones Disarmament
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=15A80E5:A6F02AD83191E16080A8708056BB2A149574F7DCC14957C0 Spokesman offered
no explanation and did not say when plan might be implemented





Heavily armed Transitional Federal Government soldiers on a truck as
they patrol the streets of Mogadishu, Thursday, 4 Jan. 2007The Somali
government has postponed a plan to forcibly disarm Somali residents as
security forces clashed with several hundred demonstrators in the
capital, Mogadishu.

A government spokesman announced the postponement Saturday. He offered
no explanation and did not say when the plan might be implemented.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi issued an ultimatum
for all residents to either voluntarily surrender their weapons or
have them forcibly taken.

Officials in Mogadisu say an exchange of gunfire with protesters today
in the capital left at least one person dead. The demonstrators were
protesting the proposed disarmament as well as the presence of
Ethiopian troops who are backing the interim government.

Ethiopian troops joined government forces to drive out Islamic
fighters who had seized control of Mogadishu and much of Somalia for
six months. 

The east African nation has been mired in anarchy since warlords
overthrew a dictator in 1991.

On Friday, the United States pledged $40 million to support a proposed
peacekeeping force in Somalia. The offer also includes humanitarian
and development aid.  The U.S. issued the pledge after a meeting of
Western, African and Arab diplomats in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. 

Participants pushed for a quick deployment of foreign peacekeepers,
approved last month by the United Nations.

So far, Uganda is the only country to have pledged troops for the
mission.

The top U.S. diplomat to Africa, Jendayi Frazer, says she believes the
proposed peacekeeping force could be in Somalia by the end of January.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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