Somali PM escapes attack

MOGADISHU – Five people were killed and 12 injured in a grenade and bomb attack on Sunday on a convoy carrying Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi during a visit to south Mogadishu, a diplomatic source said.

The prime minister was not injured by the explosions 500 metres from a hotel, the source told AFP. “A remote-controlled bomb exploded as the convoy was passing…the explosion was preceded by a grenade attack aimed at stopping the convoy,” the source said.”The two rear tyres of the prime minister’s car were punctured by grenade fragments.But the driver didn’t stop, which without a doubt saved the prime minister,” the source said.Earlier witness accounts said three people were killed, but the source said five had died.The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.The convoy had been heading for the hotel after picking up the prime minister at the city’s airport.Gedi’s visit to the capital, which his transitional government argues is too violent and lawless to be the national capital, had been postponed 24 hours because of problems with his aircraft, the diplomatic source said.The prime minister, who later addressed a meeting at the interior ministry, declined to comment on the explosion and instead discussed a controversial troop recruitment drive.”My government will not rely on troops from foreign countries, but we will recruit a national army which will overcome the existing insecurity in Somalia,” Gedi told the gathering, which was also attended by Interior Minister Hussein Mohamed Aidid.”We opened a political office of the transitional federal government which will be fully operational under the leadership of Aidid who is my deputy prime minister,” he said.- Nampa-AFP”A remote-controlled bomb exploded as the convoy was passing…the explosion was preceded by a grenade attack aimed at stopping the convoy,” the source said.”The two rear tyres of the prime minister’s car were punctured by grenade fragments.But the driver didn’t stop, which without a doubt saved the prime minister,” the source said.Earlier witness accounts said three people were killed, but the source said five had died.The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.The convoy had been heading for the hotel after picking up the prime minister at the city’s airport.Gedi’s visit to the capital, which his transitional government argues is too violent and lawless to be the national capital, had been postponed 24 hours because of problems with his aircraft, the diplomatic source said.The prime minister, who later addressed a meeting at the interior ministry, declined to comment on the explosion and instead discussed a controversial troop recruitment drive.”My government will not rely on troops from foreign countries, but we will recruit a national army which will overcome the existing insecurity in Somalia,” Gedi told the gathering, which was also attended by Interior Minister Hussein Mohamed Aidid.”We opened a political office of the transitional federal government which will be fully operational under the leadership of Aidid who is my deputy prime minister,” he said.- Nampa-AFP