Former Somali leader writes to Museveni over market bombing

MOGADISHU, 7 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The former president of the Transitional National Government [TNG] in Somalia, Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, has said that they had sent a letter to President Museveni of Uganda over the bombardment of Mogadishu by AMISOM peacekeeping forces.

Mr. Hassan, who was speaking by phone from Egypt, said the bombardment by AMISOM of Bakara market in Mogadishu, the biggest trading center in Somalia, was regrettable.

He said he had conveyed to the president of Uganda on the need to end the bombardment of civilian areas by his soldiers.

The reply for that letter from Ugandan president remains unrevealed.

Bakara, an open-air weapons bazaar, has long been viewed by the government and the AU force AMISOM as a stronghold of hardline Islamist al Shabaab insurgents trying to overthrow the country’s transitional administration.

For two years, the Al-Shabab and its allies such as Hezb al-Islam fought against Ethiopian troops in the country but after the Ethiopians pulled out their troops from Somalia in January, the militias have made the African peacekeeping forces their target, accusing them of being the fore guard of a Christian crusade.

Since May, more than 165,000 residents have fled Mogadishu amidst increasing violence, including several suicide bomb attacks, once a rarity in Somalia, authorities said.

Abdinasir Mohamed Guled
Somalilandpress
Mogadishu, Somalia

Published by: R Mo

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Former Somali leader writes to Museveni over market bombing | SomalilandPress « Horn of Africa Observer on Mon, 7th Dec 2009 6:40 am