From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Aug 02 2008 - 12:20:50 EDT
Somali commander rejects dismissal
Sat, 02 Aug 2008
The
deputy police commander of the Lower Shabelle claims the region has no
links with the government of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf.
"We were elected by the residents of the region. Lower Shabelle's
regional authorities have no connection with the Somali transitional
federal government," Nuriye Ali Farah told reporters Friday, according
to Press TV correspondent in Somalia.
His remarks come in response to the Somali government decision to
dismiss a number of high-ranking police commanders, including Farah and
police chief Ali Ganey Aden.
The government has accused them of supporting fighters who launch
attacks against the US-backed Ethiopian forces. The two have refused to
step down from their posts.
Farah charged Yusuf's government with fueling instability in Lower Shabelle, the second most populous region in Somalia.
"They have tried to force people to leave the region. We have lost our confidence in the government," he added.
Local people have told our correspondent that Farah and Aden have
helped bring order to the region and protected civilians from Mogadishu
Mayor, Mohammad Dheere's militia.
Dheere controls a large contingent of militia that has been
fighting alongside the Ethiopian troops, who are said to be responsible
for the death of hundreds of civilians in the war-battered country.
The mayor was sacked by Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein for
'failing to bring peace and stability to the capital and lack of
competence in administration'. However, he was later reinstated by
Yusuf as mayor and governor of Mogadishu.
Dheere joined the government after US-backed Ethiopian troops
invaded Somalia in 2006 and overthrew the Union of Islamic Courts
(UIC). Thousands of civilians have been killed and at least one million
people have been displaced since the ouster of UIC out of Mogadishu.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=65410§ionid=351020501
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----