[dehai-news] GO: African Union 'part of war' in Somalia: Aweys


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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Sep 24 2008 - 16:15:34 EDT


      African Union 'part of war' in Somalia: Aweys
      24 Sep 24, 2008 - 10:54:57 AM

     

ASMARA, Eritrea Sep 24 (Garowe Online) - A Somali Islamist leader has accused an African Union peacekeeping force based in capital Mogadishu of being a "part of the war" in Somalia.

Speaking with VOA Somali Service, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said AU soldiers "bombarded Bakara Market," which is the country's largest marketplace. He was referring to violence on Monday that killed at least 32 people. [ READ: 32 killed as insurgents target Mogadishu airport]

     
      Sheikh Aweys

"The Djibout peace talks did not bring any peace, but has helped worsen problems in the country [Somalia], which is why we reject it," said Sheikh Aweys, who is based in Eritrea and is on the U.S. government's terror watch-list.

Aweys, who is a decorated colonel, dismissed UN Special Envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah's warning that groups who violate the Djibouti Agreement will be prosecuted in international court, saying: "We will continue the war."

He welcomed the international community's efforts to combat piracy along the Somali coast, which has become the world's most dangerous shores.

In June 2006, Aweys and Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who signed the Djibouti Agreement, were the twin heads of the Islamic Courts Union that liberated Mogadishu from a 16-year reign of Ethiopian-backed warlords.

Later that year, Ethiopian troops invaded Mogadishu and installed the UN-endorsed Transitional Federal Government after routing out the Islamic Courts militia.

Islamist rebels have since waged a relentless guerrilla war to topple the government and expel its foreign backers, including a 2,200-strong AU force supporting the Somali government in Mogadishu.


aweys.jpg

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