Somalia protesters tackle Cairo
2003-07-18 19:33
Mogadishu - Protesters in Somalia burnt an effigy of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Egyptian flag on Friday, accusing Cairo of trying to derail ongoing Somali peace talks in Kenya, witnesses said.
"Egypt is derailing peace efforts by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) by supporting anti-peace elements in the ongoing Somali talks in Kenya," Mogadishu-based warlord Bashir Raghe told the protesters.
Raghe accused Egypt of arming late dictator Mohamed Siad Barre before he was toppled in 1991. His ouster pushed Somalia into anarchy.
"Weapons provided by Egypt are the cause of endless civil-strife in Somalia. Egyptians wanted a puppet government in Somalia for their selfish political interests," Raghe charged.
Other speakers also accused Egypt of supporting the Transitional National Government (TNG), which controls only pockets of Mogadishu.
A similar anti-Egypt demonstration also took place on Friday in the town of Jawhar, 90km north of the capital.
Some 300 delegates from the Mogadishu-based TNG, armed Somali factions under the umbrella of Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council, armed and political groups known as "G8" and the clan-based civil society signed an accord in Nairobi on July 5.
Under the accord, they agreed to establish a federal parliament that will appoint a new federal president, who in turn would appoint a prime minister, to be assisted by three deputy prime ministers.
But TNG President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan and Mogadishu-based warlord Musa Sudi Yalahow have since rejected the accord.
The Somali peace talks started at Kenya's northwest town of Eldoret last October 15, in what was the 16th attempt by the international community to restore peace to Somalia, ruled by clan warlords since dictator Barre was toppled.
- AFX