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| International |
| Somalia accuses Ethiopia of murdering militia commander |
| 2002-05-16 |
| Somalia's transitional government (TNG) accused Ethiopian troops of murdering a loyalist Somali militia commander they had allegedly taken prisoner on Somali soil. Colonel Abdurisak Issak Bihi, commander of a wing of the Somali National Front (SNF) that supports the TNG, "was captured by Ethiopian troops and was murdered in the outskirts of Bulohawo late on Wednesday," TNG Information Minister Abdurahman Ibrahim "Ibi" told AFP. "Sorry. My bad. Thought he was just another thug..." The incident took place after clashes between rival wings of the SNF, one of which supports an Ethiopian-backed coalition of warlords opposed to the TNG, in the southern Gedo region. "The TNG learnt the sad event from people who were at the scene where Bihi was murdered while defending his country from outside aggression," the minister said. He said Ethiopian troops also machine-gunned to death a prominent elder, Hassan Nur Moalin, alongside Bihi hours after capturing both men. An official of a warlords' coalition, the Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council, said Bihi had been captured but did not comment on the claim that he had been killed. Damn those The clashes, which began on April 11, prompting 10,000 civilians to flee across the nearby Kenyan border, claimed seven lives. Ibi said "shameless" Ethiopian troops "supported by tanks and heavy artillery ... killed innocent people, tortured civilians and destroyed property by burning on Wednesday." In Nairobi, Ethiopian diplomats vehemently denied that Ethiopian troops were involved in the fighting. "Asfaw! Was that you?" "Nope. Wudn't me." Ethiopia has repeatedly denied charges of wanting to topple the TNG, which controls only parts of Mogadishu and little else, or of seeking to destabilise Somalia. In January, the foreign ministry in Addis Ababa rejected claims, by the UN among others, that it had deployed troops in Somalia. Officials in Addis Ababa held an urgent meeting to discuss why Somalia thinks it's important enough for Ethiopia to waste military resources on it. The meeting ended without reaching any decisions. Well, maybe he's not that dead... "He is not killed but the man is a prisoner of our faction and he would face charges related to his misdeeds," Colonel Mohamed Ahmed Ali, the Nairobi spokesman of opposition wing of the Somali National Front (SNF) said Thursday of Colonel Abdurizak Issak Bihi. Earlier Thursday, the transitional national government (TNG) in Mogadishu claimed that Bihi, who leads a rival, pro-TNG wing of the SNF, had been captured and killed in the southern Gedo region by Ethiopian troops fighting alongside the opposition group. "I talked to his guards Thursday afternoon, he is a prisoner," Ali told AFP. Ali also denied charges that he is an Ethiopian. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |