Garowe Online (Garowe)
30 December 2008
Heavily-armed Ethiopian soldiers have raided the private residence of Mogadishu's former mayor, Mr. Mohamed "Dheere" Omar, Radio Garowe reported Tuesday.
Inside sources have confirmed that the former mayor and members of his family left the home moments before the Ethiopian soldiers arrived.
Neighbors said the Ethiopian troops set up barricades and blocked off traffic near Mohamed Dheere's residence, as other soldiers searched inside the home.
"Mohamed Dheere has been ordered to surrender his weapons [before] and to vacate his home, but he refused," a government source told Radio Garowe.
The Ethiopian soldiers who raided the home were working "on the orders of the Prime Minister," the source added.
Mr. Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein, the Somali Prime Minister, fired Mohamed Dheere as Mogadishu's mayor in July, causing a rift in the interim government that ultimately led to President Abdullahi Yusuf's resignation.
The raid on Mohamed Dheere's home occurred a day after his close political ally, Abdullahi Yusuf, resigned as Somalia's interim president.
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