January 13, 2007

Somali chief lawmaker blames US for bloodshed in Somalia

Aweys Osman Yusuf

Mogadishu 13, Jan.07 ( Sh.M.Network) -Somalia’s chief parliament lawmaker, Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, who is in Djibouti said on Saturday that the thousands of Ethiopian troops in Somalia could not introduce peace and stability to the Horn of African country.

He laid the blame of the destructions of the peace talks between the defeated Islamic Courts Union and the transitional government on Ethiopia.

According to Mashhad an Arabic newspaper, the chief Somali parliament speaker indicated that he opposes any type of force used by his government in bringing peace and security to the strife-torn country. “I believe that force produces nothing when it comes to securing the peace of the country. A peace that is brought to Somalia by Ethiopian tanks is not peace”, he said.

He accused the United States government of being responsible for the bloody war in which Ethiopian and government forces flashed out the ICU that was in control of most parts of the country for the past six months. “The UN Security Council objected to lifting the arms embargo on Somalia to prevent another bloodshed, but the US forced member states of the Security Council to approve lifting”, he said.

He urged the U.S. to divert the military action in Somalia to political reconciliations in which all Somalis should partake.

His remarks come as the transitional parliament has approved on Saturday a three-month state of emergency on the country.

Asked if the Islamic Courts he sympathized with were linked to al-Qaeda, he said, “If America sees any one with long-beard who preaches people to act according to the Islamic law, then I think all Somalis will be al-Qaeda—as far as I know the Islamic Courts were not related to al-Qaeda”, he said.

Shabelle Media Network Somalia
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