Monday, September 18, 2006

SOMALI LEADER SURVIVES BOMB BLAST !


The president's convoy had just left when the explosions went off. At least 11 people have died in an apparent bid to assassinate Somalia's interim president outside parliament in the town of Baidoa, say officials.
A suspected car bomb went off soon after a convoy left carrying President Abdullahi Yusuf, but the leader is said to have escaped unharmed.
A second bomb exploded near the first, setting at least five cars ablaze.
Mr Yusuf has strained relations with an Islamist group which controls much of southern Somalia.
The interim government controls only Baidoa and a small area around it.
The Union of Islamic Courts deny US accusations that they are linked to al-Qaeda.
Pool of blood
One of the dead was reported to be the president's younger brother - a security official

"I saw a white car explode in front of the parliament, demolishing seven other cars nearby," witness Sahad Mohamed Abukar told AFP news agency.
"There were screams everywhere."
Somali Foreign Minister Ismail Hurre said the attack had been an assassination attempt on the president.
"Five people were killed from the presidential convoy and three wounded," the minister told reporters in the Kenyan capital.
"Six attackers were also killed and two captured."
Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi told the BBC that President Yusuf was alive and well.
Local journalist Mohamed Adawe said the blast came 10 minutes after the president had delivered a speech.
The parliament was meeting to approve Mr Ghedi's new government. MPs have been debating whether the government should share power with the UIC. They have held peace talks but have not yet reached an agreement.
"This explosion was intended to kill the president, but he escaped and he is safe," said government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari.
President Yusuf wants foreign peacekeepers sent to Somalia - a suggestion strongly rejected by the Islamists, who say they can take care of security in a country which has not had an effective national government for 15 years.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

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