All Foreigners in Somalia Asked to Register Themselves in 7 Days

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 23, 2001

All Foreigners in Somalia Asked to Register Themselves in 7 Days

Colonel Abdi Hassan Awaleh Qeybdid, commander of the Mogadishu police force, has asked all foreigners including the Somalis with the dual nationalities to register themselves within seven days effective on Saturday as part of the campaign to fight the international terrorism.

The call was made here on Saturday soon after the Anti-Terrorist Task Force set up by the Transitional National Government (TNG) had arrested nine foreigners in Mogadishu, of which seven are Iraqis, a Palestinian and a Kurd man also from Iraq.

The police sources said that most of these men came to Mogadishu between 11 and three months ago.

Colonel Qeybdid said it is still too early to announce that these men are terrorists, "but serious investigation now continueson their cases and the reason why they are in Mogadishu," he added.

It seems that the Mogadishu police felt the suspicion because some of the men especially the Palestinian carries with him a Somali passport, a Somali Identity Card and a Somali Driving License.

The Somali passports have been something common for the foreigners to buy as souvenirs from Mogadishu since the late regime was toppled and all such documents were looted, but the other two documents seem to be raising some suspicion eve though still these documents are available in the markets.

The campaign against the terrorism by the TNG was launched on December 6 on a decree by the new prime minister who appointed a seven-member committee which includes the ministers of home affairs and information and the commanders of the police and the military forces.

Colonel Qeybdid also disclosed that the police had set up a system which will collect all kinds of information relating to foreigners in Mogadishu and in Somalia as a whole.

"We asked all hotels in Mogadishu to collaborate with the police by registering their guests' names, nationalities number ofpassports, how long they would stay and the reason, and then we can identify and set up a scrutiny team for the suspicious elements," said Qeybdid.