Two cities reveal the two faces of Somalia

BAIDOA, Somalia — Somalia's two main cities tell the tale of a country divided.

In the capital, Mogadishu, an upstart Islamic movement uses the language of holy war — and force — to empty the streets of gunmen and quash any challengers. In the country's breadbasket, an internationally recognized government floods the streets with foreign gunmen and tells the people not to report what they have seen.

In two towns, two leaders representing two ideas of how to move their country forward prepare for a potentially explosive face-off in a rivalry that has lasted two decades.

For the first time in 15 years, the factions fighting for control of Somalia have been reduced from nearly a dozen to just two. On Tuesday, a U.N. special envoy visited the headquarters of the transitional federal government and the Supreme Islamic Courts Council in hopes of averting what many fear is an inevitable civil war.

François Lonseny Fall, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative, flew first to Baidoa, 150 miles northwest of Mogadishu, where residents reported seeing hundreds of heavily armed troops from neighboring Ethiopia roll into town last week.

Both the Ethiopian and Somali governments have denied the accounts. The government can little afford to be seen looking to the country's traditional rival, and a Christian country at that, in these tense times.

Fall met with President Abdullahi Yusuf, Prime Minister Ali Gedi and Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. Somali officials told a photographer and video cameraman not to film the men in their new uniforms, carrying new rifles or driving new four-wheel-drive trucks. Some of the military officers may have been Ethiopian or Somali; it was impossible to tell.

The No. 2 leader in the Islamic group was much more gracious in welcoming Fall to Mogadishu after a short flight from Baidoa. Almost as soon as Fall walked through the door, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed invited him to join in afternoon prayers.

Waiters served the delegation Coca-Colas. The delegation was driven around the capital to show it was now united and its streets empty of gunmen.

But while officials in Baidoa were receptive when Fall encouraged them to resume peace talks with the Islamic group, Ahmed insisted all foreign troops must first leave Somalia. Yusuf promotes a sectarian Somalia and Ahmed's superior, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, seeks to shape the Horn of Africa nation into an Islamic state.

In Baidoa, the soldiers wave the Somali national flag. In Mogadishu, the Islamic courts carry a black banner, emblazoned with a Quranic verse and a saber.