CBC
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Protesters gathered at Tribunka Square in the capital, Mogadishu, where they burned cars, threw stones and chanted "Down with Ethiopia."
Many also denounced the government's disarmament plan as unfair, saying it only targeted people in Mogadishu.
Abdirahman Dinari, spokesman for the two-year-old, UN-backed transitional government, told the Associated Press on Saturday that plans to forcibly disarm the city this week have been delayed "until an unspecified time."
The protest came a day after al-Qaeda's deputy leader called on Muslim militants to attack Ethiopian troops, who helped government forces chase Somalia's Islamic militia from the capital last week.
Some Islamic fighters hiding in Mogadishu said they would heed Ayman al-Zawahri's call for guerrilla attacks and suicide bombings against Ethiopian troops.
Gunfire broke out during the demonstration, but it was not immediately clear what set off the violence.
A nurse at Medina Hospital said a government soldier was killed when his own hand grenade exploded accidentally. Dr. Dahir Mohamud at the same hospital said a 13-year-old boy was killed by bullets, and the hospital was treating 17 other people wounded by gunshots.
The ease with which Somalis can get weapons is a major problem in this chaotic African nation, which has not had an effective government since clan-based warlords toppled a military dictatorship in 1991 and plunged the country into anarchy.
The Council of Islamic Courts militia had brought a semblance of stability to Mogadishu after seizing control six months ago. Soon after gaining power, the council imposed a strict version of Qur'anic rule that included public executions and floggings of criminals.
Government troops, backed by the Ethiopian military, routed the Islamic militia from much of southern Somalia last week. Many of the militiamen are now besieged at the southernmost tip of Somalia, but the government estimates 3,500 fighters are hiding out in Mogadishu.
Ethiopian soldiers, tanks and warplanes intervened Dec. 24 in support of the interim Somali government, which at the time controlled only the western town of Baidoa. But Ethiopia's government wants to pull out in a few weeks, saying it cannot afford to keep its troops in Somalia.
The government is trying to train and expand its own military and police while an international diplomatic effort seeks to put a foreign peacekeeping force in place.
With files from the Associated Press
Source: CBC, Jan 06, 2007