15/04/08 (B443) Press TV – La somalie envoie des armes au Puntland. – Somali sends weapons to Puntland (Info lecteur – En Anglais)

Over 6 planes loaded with weapons have been transferred from Mogadishu to the self-declared autonomous state of Puntland, northeast Somalia.

The heavy weapons -moved from Aden Adde international airport- had been mostly handed over by Somali businessmen and Hawiye Clan to the government, Press TV correspondent reported on Monday.

It is said that the weapons were delivered to Somali government forces by Ethiopian troops after they disarmed the Hawiye Clan warlords. Hawiye, is the dominant clan in Somalia capital, Mogadishu.

The warlords who handed over the weapons were government members and are blamed for the failure of more than 16 national reconciliation conferences.

Puntland, whose leaders in 1998 declared an autonomous state, obtains its economic and political support from Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, there are reports that the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is faced with the resignation of the military officers and escape of soldiers.

Yusuf Ahmed, backed by Ethiopian forces, defeated the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) on the last day of 2006.