21/01/09 (B482-B) Actualité et violences en Somalie (4 articles en Français et en Anglais)

_____________________________ 4 – Centre Info ONU

Somalie : L’ONU salue la formation prochaine d’un gouvernement d’unité nationale

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, représentant spécial du Secrétaire général de l’ONU pour la Somalie.

20 janvier 2009 – Le représentant spécial du Secrétaire général pour la Somalie, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, a salué mardi les travaux des principales forces politiques du pays à Djibouti sur la mise en place d’un gouvernement d’unité nationale.

« Rassemblés dans le cadre d’un Comité de haut niveau, des délégués du gouvernement fédéral de transition et de l’Alliance pour la re-libération de la Somalie sont rassemblés à Djibouti pour discuter de l’élargissement du parlement et de la création d’un gouvernement d’unité nationale », après de violents affrontements armés opposant les deux factions, indique un communiqué du Bureau politique du représentant spécial.

« Il s’agit d’un moment critique pour la Somalie et il est extrêmement important de ne pas se tromper, après près deux décennies de violences », a dit M. Ould-Abdallah.

Un autre objectif de cette réunion est de procéder à l’élection d’un nouveau chef d’Etat. « Nous espérons que ce nouveau leader pourra participer à la prochaine réunion de l’Autorité intergouvernementale pour le développement (IGAD) », a-t-il ajouté.

______________________________ 3 – Shabelle

Une violente explosion au passage d’un convoi de l’AMISOM à Mogadiscio : un camion endommagé. // Explosion targets AMISOM truck

Heavy explosion has targeted to a convoy of African Union peace keepers known as AMISOM around Maka al-Mukarama road in Mogadishu, where they have a base and damaged one of their trucks, their spokesman told Shabelle Radio on Tuesday.

“Our convoy came under a roadside bomb attack and it slightly damaged one of our vehicles, but we did not suffer any casualties,” said AMISOM spokesman Maj. Barigye Bahoko.

Residents said the soldiers fired gunfire after the explosion and the blast was a remote controlled one and convulsed the area.

“We were traveling along the convoy of AMISOM troops when a blast targeted one of their vehicles, we ran away and we could see the vehicle burning,” said Ali Dahir, a witness.

The blast occurred on the main road Maka-al Mukarama which connects the presidential palace and K4, a base of Ugandan peace keepers in Mogadishu.

No civilian casualties have been reported so far.

The Islamist Insurgents Al-shabab claimed the responsibility of the explosion attack and said that they have inflicted casualties to the AMISOM troops in Mogadishu.

It is the first blast attack against AU peace keepers since the Ethiopian soldiers withdrew from the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Only 3,400 of peacekeepers contributed by Uganda and Burundi less than the promised number of 8,000 are in the capital.

______________________________ 2 – Shabelle (En Anglais)

Le vice-Président du parlement convoque les députés somaliens à Baïdoa pour le 26 janvier afin qu’ils participent au vote destiné à désigner le nouveau Président intérimaire. // Somalia: Second Parliament Speaker Calls All MPs in Biadoa

Baidoa — The deputy speaker of the Somali parliament Osman Elmi Boqore has called all the Somali legislatures in Baidoa town 250 kilometers south of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday.

Reports from Baidoa town say that Mr. Boqore has called all members of the Somali transitional federal parliament to come Baidoa town to take part the presidential election which is due to be held 26th January 2009 and choose interim president for the parliament in Baidoa seat of the transitional parliament.

« We have already named committee for the presidential election of the federal parliament in Baidoa and now they are preparing the ceremony for the election, » Mr. Boqore said.

The deputy speaker of the parliament Mr. Osman Elmi Boqore has told reporters that they are not aware of more about Djibouti presidential election which is also due to be held in Djibouti adding that they did not get any message from Djibouti for attending it yet.

The statement of the speaker Mr. Boqre comes by a time there is great dispute between both the newly combined legislatures of Djibouti and the federal parlaiment based in Baidoa that each side plans how transitional president of the Somalia would be elected.

______________________________ 1 – En Anglais

Des accrochages entre des soldats gouvernementaux somaliens et des rebelles auraient causé la mort de 19 personnes à Mogadiscio. Les observateurs craignent une augmentation de la violence après le départ des Ethiopiens. // Mogadishu violence claims 19 lives

Clashes between Somali government soldiers and rebels have reportedly killed 19 people amid fears of more violence following Ethiopia’s pullout.

The fighting between the gunmen and forces loyal to the Transitional Federal Government occurred in southern Mogadishu on Tuesday, leaving 19 people dead, Press TV’s correspondent reports.

Clashes continue in Dharkenleyt and Wada Jir districts in the south of the Somali capital where the rebels struggle to take control of government bases.

The chairman of the Medina district in southern Mogadishu, Ahmed Daci, confirmed that seven of the dead were Somali soldiers. He further stressed that government forces are ready to defend their positions and confront insurgents.

Mortar shell explosions and heavy crossfire between the clashing sides has driven hundreds of people out of their homes.

Somalia remains the scene of growing violence and fighting among rebels and the weak interim government, which is backed by the African Union peacekeeping forces (AMISOM).

Land mine explosions destroyed a Ugandan military vehicle on Tuesday on Maka Al Mukarama Street in southern Mogadishu where eight civilians were injured. AMISOM sources confirmed that the incident occurred but denied that any Ugandan soldiers were killed or injured.

Last week, Ethiopia ‘irreversibly’ pulled out the troops it had deployed to the Horn of Africa state, raising fears of an increase in the attacks against the Somali government and its AU military allies.

Al-Shabaab official Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur emphasized last Thursday that the rebel group is determined to continue its armed activities to expel all foreign military forces from Somalia.

Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Osman Ali Dhagah Tuur has accused anti-government fighters of disturbing peace and unilaterally attacking government soldiers at their bases.