Somali Islamists cut fuel supply to government base

MOGADISHU, Oct 26 (Reuters) Somali Islamists are stopping fuel shipments reaching the government's base in Baidoa, dealers and officials said, potentially cutting off key supplies should a tense standoff between both sides boil over.

Tensions are fast rising in the Horn of Africa nation between the Islamists and the Western-backed government as the religious movement extends its authority across southern Somalia, effectively flanking the administration on three sides.

Under Islamist control, Mogadishu is the main hub from where fuel, brought in by businessmen from the Gulf States, is then transported to other southern towns such as Baidoa.

One fuel dealer said his truck was stopped overnight in Buur Hakaba, a strategic town which the Islamists retook on Monday after government troops had chased away their allies over the weekend. The town is only 30 km (18 miles) from the interim government's provincial base in Baidoa and on the route used to transport fuel to there from Mogadishu.

''This is an economic embargo by the Islamists aimed at crippling the interim government,'' Abdi Ahmed told Reuters by telephone from Buur Hakaba, where his truck was still being held. ''This will have a major impact on Baidoa because most of our oil comes from Mogadishu.'' Ahmed said the Islamists were only stopping trucks carrying fuel and had let through those carrying food and passengers.

''This is bad for business. Fuel prices will start to go up now, transport will also increase. It's a really a big blow,'' the Baidoa-based dealer said.

An Islamist source in Buur Hakaba confirmed the move.

''All trucks carrying fuel to Baidoa from Mogadishu have been detained,'' the source, who declined to be named, said. ''Other trucks are allowed to proceed with their journey.'' Many fear skirmishes between the government -- the 14th attempt at effective central rule since the 1991 ouster of a dictator -- and the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu from US-backed warlords in June, could turn to a full-scale region-wide war.

Pro-Islamist fighters in Buur Hakaba and rival Ethiopian troops supporting the government dug defensive positions this week around their outposts.

Witnesses say regional power -- and the Islamists' enemy -- Ethiopia is propping up the government by sending troops but Addis Ababa denies sending anything but military advisers.

Somali Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle said those worst affected by the Islamists' move were civilians as the government had a large enough fuel supply.

''This embargo will only affect ordinary people since we have enough supply of fuel,'' he said from Baidoa. ''We had planned in advance and knew they would resort to such acts.'' In another development, militia loyal to the government arrested three journalists who were travelling to Baidoa from Buur Hakaba. The National Union of Somali Journalists said they had been reporting on the skirmishes.

Local sources said their cameras and tape recorders were confiscated. An official confirmed the arrests.

''The journalists who were arrested on Tuesday were seen moving in and out of Baidoa and Buur Hakaba. So that is why they were arrested,'' senior government intelligence officer Mohamed Ali said. ''There was a lot of troop movement in the area.'' Reuters DKS VP0437