Somalian President Survives Assassination Attempt
Nidhi Sharma - All Headline News Staff Writer Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) - On Monday, the transitional president of Somalia Abdullahi Yusuf narrowly escaped assassination when a car bomb exploded as he left a converted grain silo which is now Somalia's makeshift Parliament. However eight other people, including his brother and several security guards, were killed by the blast in Baidoa, the nation's provisional capital. The LA Times reports that the bombing has been described as an "al-Qaeda-type attempt." No group immediately claimed responsibility. In a radio address Monday night, the President revealed that the authorities had recovered the remains of a person they believe might have been the suicide driver. Abdul Fatah Ibrahim Rasheed, a member of Parliament said, "We hear about this type of thing in Iraq, but not Somalia." The blast comes at a time when the government is attempting to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with the Islamic Courts Union. The ICU took control of Mogadishu early 2006. Some officials in Baidoa accused the union of participating in the attack. "It will jeopardize the peace process if it becomes very obvious that the Islamists are behind this terrorist act," Foreign Minister Ismail Hurre Buba Hurre said. However Islamist officials have denied any knowledge of the attack. Mukhtar Robow Ali, the deputy security chief for the courts union says,"We know nothing about it, but |
