[Al Arabiya Latest]The Somali government on Friday blamed al-Qaeda-linked militants for a suicide bombing that killed 22 people in the capital, as government officials buried three Cabinet ministers killed in the attack. Somalia's al-Shabab, the most powerful militant group in the African country, said it was not responsible for the attack, but government officials said the group denied responsibility only because so many Somalis had been angered by the bombing.
The bombing Thursday ripped through a university graduation ceremony at an upscale hotel in Mogadishu, killing medical students, doctors, journalists and three government ministers. The bombing has also killed Al Arabiya cameraman al-Hassan al-Zubeir.
"The investigation is still under way to uncover evidence of who might have been behind the attack, but we already know that this is the work of al-Qaeda through its affiliated group al-Shabab, because of the nature of the attack and the tactics used," said Security Minister Abdullahi Mohammed Ali.
"We have heard about that tragedy from the media. On behalf of the Shabab, we are not in any way involved in that incident," top spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage said in a statement. He blamed the government for the bombing, an accusation vehemently denied by Somali officials.
Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for past suicide attacks in Somalia, and has never denied carrying out an attack. But militant groups tend to distance themselves from bombings that kill large numbers of civilians -- attacks that could draw popular outrage.
The government buried the three ministers killed in the blast, holding a ceremony at a Mogadishu hospital heavily guarded by government forces and African Union peacekeepers fearful that militants might try to attack the proceedings. The president and prime minister of the weak, U.N.-backed government attended.