By Aweys Yusuf
Sunday, February 17, 2008

The interim government and its Ethiopian allies are battling gunmen loyal to an Islamist movement that ruled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for six months in 2006 before being ousted by the allied forces.

"The president was at the palace when several mortars landed near the house. The president is safe," said spokesman Hussein Mohamud Hubsired.

"Al-Shabab, which is linked to al Qaeda, was responsible for this attack targeting the president," he told Reuters.

Al-Shabab, which opposes the presence of foreign troops on Somali soil, has been waging an Iraq-style insurgency.

The attack took place hours after Yusuf arrived in the coastal capital from a trip abroad for medical treatment.

The 73-year-old, who had a liver transplant nearly 14 years ago, left Somalia on January 4, a month after a chest illness sparked a health scare.

Spokesman Hubsired said Yusuf's main priority was to "hasten the government's works" and to continue reconciliation efforts to establish lasting peace.

A local human rights group said on Saturday that nearly 292 civilians were killed and 385 wounded in Mogadishu last month alone.

The chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, Sudan Ali Ahmed, estimated that 2 million Somalis had fled their homes in the capital since January 2007.

Insurgents have carried out bombings and grenade attacks, drawing retaliatory gunfire from allied Somali-Ethiopian troops.

The United Nations says Somalia is the world's most pressing humanitarian crisis.

Ahmed, speaking to Reuters, accused the international community of paying no attention to abuses in the Horn of Africa country, which spiralled into chaos when warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

"We can call what is happening in Somalia genocide. The international community ignores the human rights breaches in the country," Ahmed said by telephone.

"The world should focus on Somalia more because the population is more vulnerable than ever before and all war crimes in the country must be tried in an international criminal court."

Source: Reuters, Feb 17, 2008

ali mustafa @ 2/19/2008 7:21 AM EST  I wonder why you guys want that man dead,while its you who chosed him in the first place?Bad guys dont die just because of some little prayers or bad wishes!what am traying to say is,marka hore intaad dadka hor carartaan,ayaad gadaalna kashanleysaan!oo aad habar iyo waxaan loo fadhiyin kuwalataan!

Dr Ali @ 2/19/2008 6:53 AM EST  Abdulahi Yusuf is dying bug and Amhara is looking for replacement. How long this triator will breath with machine? Time will tell. For HOL removing my strong words won't stop our stand against this Amhara stooge. Keep censoring me....after all, your editorial policy if you have any or weak aritcles are very selective/one sided. That is why we have to walk tight rope all the time.

Dr Ali @ 2/19/2008 6:40 AM EST  Abdulahi Yusuf is dying bug and Amhara is looking for replacement. How long this triator will breath with machine? Time will tell. For HOL removing my strong words won't stop our stand against this Amhara stooge. Keep censoring me....after all, your editorial policy if you have any or weak aritcles are very selective/one sided. That is why we have to walk tight rope all the time.

shanta @ 2/18/2008 3:13 PM EST  Everyone is entitled to their opinion-what I said to you was that there is no need to personalize this forum, but everything else is open for discussion except profanities. You don’t accept it, but it was a suggestion. There are people that I don’t read there comments who are offensive in nature-but the ones I read and respond to, are normally from decent people, such as yourself-just because someone lowers their standards doesn’t mean you have to lower yours!

Gaadh-haye @ 2/18/2008 2:21 PM EST  I wonder why Shanta and & co are not holding fellow clansmen to certain standard of ethics here. It is pick and choose. This man, Somaliunity, is not restrained while we are badmouthed!