Friday, December 01, 2006
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BAIDOA, Somalia (AFP) - Somali authorities were questioning two suspects Friday over a suicide attack in Baidoa, where the country's weak government is based, as war fears grew in the shattered African nation. Nine people, including two policemen, were killed in Thursday's car-bombing, which the security forces suggested was the work of a powerful Islamist movement that controls most of south and central Somalia including the capital Mogadishu.
"The government condemns this act of terrorism, but we are currently interrogating two people whom we suspect were involved and might shed more light on the incident," said information minister Ali Jama.
"We do not want to jump to conclusions, but all indications are that the attack was carried out by the Islamists in Mogadishu because they are the ones who have invited foreigners with this kind of expertise," Jama said.
Deputy defense minister Salat Ali Jelle also blamed the Islamists, whose growing influence has challenged the authority of the two-year old government.
"This was an attack planned and carried out by Islamic courts ... they were assisted by foreign fighters from abroad," Jelle said.
He said that the suspects were seized shortly after a vehicle packed with explosives was detonated Thursday at a checkpoint in Baidoa, the only town held by the weak government, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the capital.
Patrols were intensified around the town, where security had already been heightened for several weeks since a failed attempt to assassinate Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
"We have bolstered security in Baidoa," said police chief Aden Biid, adding that "a policemen who was injured died," bringing the toll to nine.
The government also blamed the September 18 suicide car-bombing on the Islamists, who denied responsibility but have since declared holy war on Ethiopian troops protecting the government.
Officials said that the explosives detonated in Thursday's attack could have been intended for a more significant target in Baidoa.
"All indications are that they were trying to bring the explosives into Baidoa and their motive could be killing government officials, but we expect to get a clearer picture from the interrogation," Jama said. "We have, of course, increased security in Baidoa, but we must make it clear that this government will not be brought down by suicide bombers."
Thursday attack came hours after Ethiopia's parliament adopted a resolution that called the Islamists a "clear and present danger" and authorized the government to take "any legal action against any invasion coming to our country."
The vote followed an earlier Islamist-claimed attack on an Ethiopian military convoy outside Baidoa and came a day after they accused Ethiopia of shelling a town that they hold near the border.
Worried diplomats at the United Nations have called on all nations to respect an 1992 arms embargo on Somalia amid reports of massive military build-ups by the rival parties with embargo violations by 10 nations.
Faced with fears of further attacks, the terrified government urged the UN Security Council to lift or modify the embargo to allow the deployment of peacekeepers who would help improve security in the lawless African nation.
"The longer it delays, more problems arise, but if the Security Council had lifted the embargo two years ago, the situation would be better now," Jama said, insisting that the UN should disregard objections by the Islamists.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denies deploying thousands of troops to Somalia but acknowledges sending military advisors and trainers to assist the internationally backed but largely powerless Somali government.
Mainly Christian Ethiopia has watched with growing concern the rise on its southeastern border of the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu in June.
Analysts have accused arch-foes Ethiopia and Eritrea, who are still at odds over their unresolved border dispute, of fighting a proxy war in Somalia.
Eritrea has also flatly rejected the claims, but said that Ethiopia should stay out of Somalia.
Source: AFP, Dec 01, 2006