Somali minister wounded in landmine blast

MOGADISHU, Thursday

Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, the Interior Minister of Somalia’s Government of National Unity, was today wounded when a landmine exploded inside the Bakara market, the largest trading centre in Mogadishu, hitting the minister and his bodyguards.

The minister sustained minor injuries on his left arm. He later held a press conference at Guulwadeyaal Centre in Southern Mogadishu and said one of his bodyguards died in the incident while another was injured.

He thanked God for his survival and offered his condolences to the family of the deceased and wished those wounded to get well soon.

The minister Omar whose office is responsible for law enforcement in Somalia promised to double his efforts towards the stabilisation of the war-torn country. “I am not going to be discouraged by this attack,” said Minister Sheikh Omar. “We are going to overcome this lawlessness and murderous acts,” he added.

Asked whether he suspected any group, the minister stated that Somali groups know each other, but he preferred a peaceful resolution to all confrontations. “We shall do all we can to clear anarchy from this country,” said Sheikh Omar.

Sheikh Omar is the first cabinet member attacked in Mogadishu since the GNU was formed in Djibouti in February. The GNU was formed when the Transitional Federal Government and the Djibouti based opposition group, Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) signed a peace agreement and formed a unity government.

Some radical Islamist movements, however, rejected the reconciliation process and vowed to fight the GNU. Al-Shabaab and Islamic Party are the main leading opposition groups to the GNU and President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

A number of opposition leaders uncharacteristically consoled the minister. They included Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siyad Indha’adde, one of the leaders of one of the factions of Islamic Party and Sheikh Ibrahim Mohamed Bilal, the leader of Camalka Islaamka (Islamic Actions). Both officials oppose the policies of the GNU to which Sheikh Omar belongs.