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Eritrean president pledges support for Somali rebels

Written by Administrator

Saturday, 15 September 2007

NAIROBI, Kenya: A grenade attack on Somali government forces killed two civilians and wounded five others Saturday, witnesses said, the day after Eritrea's president pledged his support to a new Somali rebel group. The casualties happened in cross fire after soldiers fired at an unknown gunman who hurled hand grenades at the government base near Mogadishu's major Bakara market, witness Mohamed Ali said.

He said he saw two dead civilians, but did not have any information on military casualties or the identity of the attackers.

Fahmo Ali Osman, a nurse at Madina hospital, said a critically injured 10-year-old boy was among five wounded brought to the hospital.

A subsequent attack occurred near Shabelle Radio premises. Government forces said a hand grenade was thrown from the building and shut it down.

Reporter Sahra Yusuf said all the reporters had been arrested and the radio taken off air, but that they had subsequently been released on bail and allowed to return to work.

Tension in the arid Horn of Africa nation has increased since last Thursday, when a mixture of civil society groups, expatriate Somalis, dissident parliamentarians and the remnants of the Islamic Courts formed an alliance in neighboring Eritrea dedicated to fighting the Ethiopian troops that are allies of the shaky U.N.-backed Somali government.

Eritrea has lent crucial support to Somalia's opposition since the Council of Islamic Courts was dislodged from the capital in December by Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies. Eritrea fought a bloody 32 year war with Ethiopia for independence which only ended in 1993, another war from 1998-2000, and tensions between the two countries remain high due to an unresolved border dispute.

According to the Ministry of Information's Web site, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki told the leaders of the new alliance, "The Eritrean people's support to the Somali people is consistent and historical, as well as a legal and moral obligation."

He added, "The Somali people's opposition to the invader that undermined the reconstruction process is a legitimate right of self-defense."

Afwerki also mentioned the relative period of calm parts of Somalia enjoyed during the brief 6-month rule of the Council of Islamic Courts and said "external forces" were weaving conspiracies to incite conflict among the Somalis after failing to achieve their goal through military means. He said these attempts are "doomed to end up in fiasco."

A week ago, the top U.S. official for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said that Eritrea could be added to a list of nations that sponsor terrorism due to the presence of several figures at the Somali opposition conference who are wanted on international terrorism charges.

In his closing remarks, President Afwerki said, "Although some parties do not welcome the initiative which the Somali brothers have taken to reconstitute their nation, the Somali people are the decisive ones, as it is a historical axiom that a people who have risen up to achieve their goal are sure to emerge victorious."

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre then turned on each other. The current U.N.-backed government has struggled to assert any real control and comes under daily attack from insurgents. The impoverished country is awash with weapons and divisions between the shaky government and its Ethiopian allies and the Islamic insurgents are complicated by an intricate web of clan loyalties.

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 15 September 2007 )

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