Garowe Online (Garowe)
3 March 2008
Garowe — Somalia's interim Prime Minister, Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein, has admitted that government troops took part in all-out looting of the capital' s largest marketplace, Bakara.
Prime Minister Nur Adde told a BBC Somali Service interview that soldiers involved in the looting will be "punished."
He said the government soldiers' behavior was "regrettable" and apologized for their misconduct, adding that a Cabinet-level committee had been appointed to speak with the affected business groups and find an amicable resolution.
Somali Prime Minister Nur Adde
But the Prime Minister was unequivocal in his blaming of the insurgents for Saturday's battles at Bakara market, which killed 17 people and wounded scores. Somali-Ethiopian soldiers fought their way into Bakara after insurgents retreated there.
"The whole incident [at Bakara] was triggered by anti-government groups, who attacked our soldiers," Prime Minister Nur Adde said.
The intention of such groups, the Prime Minister said, is to "create hostility" between the government and the public.
He indicated that the government considers the insurgents' guerrilla attacks as "provocation," which he suggested is "intended to undermine the reconciliation effort."
This is not the first time Somali government troops have been accused of looting in Mogadishu, but it is the first time a high-ranking government official has publicy admitted the soldiers' illegal conduct.
But Prime Minister Nur Adde did not have an explanation to security forces who raided three independent radio stations in Mogadishu Sunday.
He said that he is not "very aware" of the raids, which had taken place hours before the interview. Shabelle Radio director Muktar Mohamed Hirabe was arrested.
Prime Minister Nur Adde, who was appointed last November, has made it one of his top three priorities to pursue national reconciliation and has repeatedly called on the insurgents to the negotiating table without preconditions.
But remnants of an Islamic group that ruled Mogadishu in 2006 who are now spearheading the bloody insurgency have refused to negotiate with the government until Ethiopian troops withdraw.
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