Despite their announced intention to capture the only town held by the transitional government of Somalia, militiamen from the Council of Islamic Courts (UIC) said Thursday they'll halt their advance and pull back about 40 miles. The US had said it was "gravely concerned" at the plan, and the UN's special representative for Somalia urged restraint. Against that backdrop, witnesses said Ethiopian Army units pledged to defend the weak interim government were on the streets of Baidoa, its base, and a UIC spokesman said they had become its new focus of attention. "God willing, we will remove the Ethiopians from our country and wage [jihad] against them," he said.

CSMonitor Headline News Service <www@csmonitor.com>

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