Riots break out in Somalia

2006-07-28 17:51

Baidoa - Hundreds of people demonstrated near the headquarters of Somalia's virtually powerless government on Friday after a cabinet minister was gunned down as he walked out of mosque after prayers.

People began streaming into the streets and setting fires just hours after Abdallah Isaaq Deerow, Somalia's minister for constitutional and federal affairs, was shot in the chest.

The shooting was the second this week of a lawmaker in Baidoa, the only town controlled by the fragile administration.

Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed, chairperson of the parliamentary committee for constitutional affairs, was wounded on Wednesday night.

It was not clear whether the shootings were connected or if they had anything to do with politics in this chaotic Horn of Africa nation, which is emerging from 15 years of anarchy.

"We condemn this wicked action, and the government will chase the murderers and treat them with an iron hand," the government's information minister, Mohamed Abdi Hayir, said on Friday.

18 top ministers resigned

The government, which has no military, has watched helplessly in recent months as Islamic militants took over much of the country.

On Thursday, 18 top ministers resigned, saying the government has failed to bring peace. Deerow was not among those who resigned.

Meanwhile, the Islamic militia, known as the supreme Islamic courts council, has seized control of the capital and much of southern Somalia.

On Friday, Islamic fighters closed roads around the capital's airport and chased away bystanders while a plane was unloaded.

A similar aircraft delivered goods on Wednesday, and officials from the government accused Eritrea of sending arms to the militants on that flight.

Islamic officials and Eritrea both denied the accusation.

Eritrea and Ethiopia have been accused of supporting opposite sides in the Somali standoff, using the country as a battleground in their own rivalry.

The lawmakers who resigned on Thursday said they were opposed to troops from neighbouring Ethiopia who were sent here to protect the government from the Islamic group.

'Ministers trying to bring down government'

"We have seen that the government cannot carry out national reconciliation and development," said the letter of resignation issued by 18 key ministers in the 102-member cabinet on Thursday.

On Friday, Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi accused the former cabinet ministers of trying to bring down his government, but said it would not be affected.

The Islamic militants' increasing power has prompted grave concerns in the United States, which accuses the group of harbouring al-Qaeda leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The Islamic group's imposition of strict religious courts also has raised fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime.

- SAPA