From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Oct 18 2008 - 07:55:37 EDT
US ordering AMISOM in Somalia
Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:52:38 GMT
Ugandan and AU soldiers sweep for mines in Mogadishu
Somali police say AMISOM commanders at Somalia's Aden Adde International Airport are forced to take direct orders from US government officers.
They (the policemen) have confirmed to our Press TV correspondent that whenever insurgents attack AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) bases and the Aden Adde International Airport, they have to consult the American officers before taking any action.
He says that according to his police source, there are more than 25 US military officers (including nine female) stationed secretly in AMISOM bases.
At least 35 times AMISOM has been attacked, and every time the American officers have given the orders to shoot at civilians in Bakara and other districts in south Mogadishu, our reporter says quoting 10 policemen he has talked to.
They also plan attacks for the AMISOM, the policemen said.
Whenever the AMISOM spokesman, Bragiye Bahoku, speaks to the media, he reads out the text dictated by US officers, they say.
The policemen also say that the peace keeping forces from Africa, Uganda and Burundi are like US paid soldiers. They have to obey what is ordered by the US officers, even if they do not like it.
In 1993, the US forces launched an operation is Somalia, named 'Operation Gothic Serpent' supported by the United Nations Operations in Somalia against Somali militia fighters loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. That mission had ended in failure, our correspondent said.
The US has assigned the Ugandan soldiers to control all the communication especially when an attack takes place. They were asked to interrupt and block conversations passing through the Mogadishu telecommunication company and also listen to their daily talk.
Somali UN aid worker shot dead
Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:12:31 GMT
A Somali man working for the United Nations World Food Program (WFD) has been shot dead in the southern region of Lower Shabelle.
Three armed men gunned down a UN aid worker, identified by a UN source as Abdinasir Aden Muse, while he was leaving a mosque in the town of Merka on Friday, witnesses told Press TV correspondent.
He died on the way to hospital, our correspondent said.
The incident comes about two weeks after an Italian aid worker was injured when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Merka.
UN workers in Somalia have been the target of increasing attacks this year. Friday's killing brought to 13 the number of aid workers killed in Somalia this year.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----