200 troops reportedly switch sides

Nearly 200 troops serving Somalia’s Western-backed interim government defected to the Islamic Courts movement, an Islamic official said, as both sides braced for impending war.

Mohammed Ibrahim Bilal, head of the Islamic Court in the Al Bayan region, said the troops were “ready to be incorporated into the Islamic Courts forces.”

The government denied Bilal’s claim. “The government has 6,000 strong soldiers who are well trained and well disciplined,” said Salad Ali Jelle, the deputy defense minister.

The Islamist movement has promised to launch a holy war Tuesday unless troops from neighboring Ethiopia, which is supporting the government, leave Somalia.