Muslim leaders have asked the Government to open the Kenya-Somalia border

(SomaliNet) Muslim leaders have asked the Government to open the Kenya-Somalia border to allow in people fleeing fighting in the Horn of Africa country.

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya said yesterday that victims of the war between insurgents and Somali government troops had nowhere to go because Kenya had closed the border after defeat of the Union of Islamic Courts.

Council secretary-general Sheikh Mohammed Dormuhammad said the Government should also set up centres to vet the refugees.

Further, the leaders want Kenya as the chair of Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad), to convene an urgent meeting to resolve the Somalia crisis that has claimed 1,073 people.

“Igad has the mandate to ensure region’s safe and Kenya as the chairman, must lead the way,” said Sheikh Dor.

“It is, therefore, prudent to ask that all Ethiopian military forces and the peace-keepers of Uganda leave the country to seek its own peace as evidenced during the short reign of the UIC,” he advised.

Sheikh Dor said Kenya’s silence on the conflict was “deafening”, and blamed it for proliferation of small arms at Bura in Tana River District.

The council’s organising secretary, Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa, said: “The Government is aware of the availability of arms in Bura, but has decided to keep quiet.” -Nation