Somalis protest foreign peacekeepers

Hundreds of supporters of Somalia's ousted Islamic courts council demonstrated in the capital Thursday against an imminent deployment of foreign peacekeepers.

The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and burned tires a day after the African Union said three battalions of peacekeepers from Uganda and Nigeria were ready to be deployed in Somalia and will be airlifted in as soon as possible.

"We will not tolerate foreign troops coming to our country," demonstrator Saida Hussien said. "We will show the world that we are against the foreign troops."

Another demonstrator, Abdiqadir Hassan Diriye, said: "As long as I'm breathing, I will fight with the foreign troops who are coming to our country."

The demonstrators, who protested in northern Mogadishu _ an area known for its strong support of the militant Council of Islamic Courts _ carried placards that read, "We don't want foreign troops," and "Down with Ethiopia."

Ethiopia's military intervention on behalf of the U.N.-backed Somali government in December proved crucial in routing militias loyal to the courts council.

The protesters called for the return of the Islamic movement, which was credited with restoring some order in the violent nation.

Factional violence has again become a feature of life in Mogadishu since the Islamic movement fled. Mortar and grenade attacks have also been launched against Ethiopian and government troop garrisons in the city.

Late Thursday, nine mortar rounds hit Mogadishu's seaport, said Mohamed AbdulKadir, who lives in the area. The mortars were fired at an Ethiopian and government base at the port, he said. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

Ethiopia, whose continued presence is deeply unpopular among Somalis, says it does not have the resources to stay and already has begun withdrawing _ a move that could create a dangerous power vacuum.

The African Union was pressing ahead with its peacekeeping mission to Somalia, even though African leaders at a summit that ended Tuesday promised to provide only about half of the 8,000 troops needed.

Five nations _ Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi, Burundi and Ghana _ have pledged around 4,000 troops so far.

Somalis are wary of a foreign peacekeepers following the disastrous U.N. intervention in the early 1990s, a bloody period even by Somali's turbulent history.

On Tuesday, extremists in Somalia said they would try to kill any peacekeepers. In a videotape posted on the official Web site of the Islamic movement, a hooded gunman read a statement saying that any African peacekeepers would be seen as invaders.

The United States has accused the Council of Islamic Courts of sheltering suspects in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Osama Bin Laden has said Somalia is a battleground in his war on the West.

The U.S. launched two airstrikes against fleeing Islamic fighters, although details of the attacks are unknown.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, pushing the country into anarchy.

The transitional government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help.