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Somali Islamists threaten the president

  1. Posted on Wednesday 1 September 2010 - 10:19
    raphie
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    By Ryekolal Raphie Africanews reporter in Kampala.
    Mogadishu-A Somali rebel group has told the Horn of Africa nation's embattled leader to quit power and said hardline Islamists had succeeded where government had failed, establishing order in areas they controlled.

    Hisbul Islam, which has waged a three-year insurgency against the fragile interim government alongside the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, urged Somalia's Muslims to unite and join in the holy war.

    "President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed ought to quit. He has nothing for the people except a call for more foreign troops that massacre Somalis," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, leader of Hisbul Islam, told reporters on Tuesday evening.

    Hardline Islamist control much of the capital Mogadishu, hemming the government into just a few blocks manned by African Union (AU) peacekeepers, as well as vast tracts of south and central Somali.

    Ali Muse, coordinator of the ambulance service, said many of Tuesday's casualties were civilians hit by shells landing in and around the Bakara market, Mogadishu's largest bazaar and a known rebel stronghold.

    More than 150 people have died over the last 10 days during the latest escalation of violence in Mogadishu, medics said. On Tuesday, a roadside blast and heavy artillery fire between insurgents and AU-backed government troops killed at least 18 people.

    Although the National Union of Somali Journalists said the death of Abdullahi Omar Gedi highlighted its grave concerns about press freedoms in the lawless country. Gedi is the third journalist to be killed in Somalia this year.

    One of the eye witness Ismail Musamil,said "The bomb exploded on the buses ahead of the one I was on board. Blood and pieces of human flesh littered the road".

    And in recent days, the militants have intensified their offensive on government targets and killed four Ugandan peacekeepers deployed near the presidential palace.
    End

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