By Mohamed Abdi Farah

Mogadishu, 12 August 2007 - The defeated Islamic Courts Union accused the transitional government and the Ethiopian troops in the country of being responsible for the killings of Horn Afrik media managers and other violations against the free press.

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the exiled leader of ICU who now lives in Asmara, Eritrea blamed what he called ‘the occupation forces of Ethiopia and its puppet Somali government’ for the assassinations on the media officials in Mogadishu.

“The government in Mogadishu and Ethiopia have masterminded the killings of the owner of Horn Afrik Media Ali Iman Sharmarke and the head of Capital Voice Mahad Ahmed Elmi and they will be held into accountable,” said Sheik Ahmed.

In statement posed on the Internet, the Young Islamic Movement said they were not involved in the acts that killed the journalists.

“The intention of the young martyrs is not to kill the civilian people but our goal is to hunt down anyone belonging or has contact with the government,”

Meanwhile, Somalia’s interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi condemned the killings on the journalists saying this was a work of terrorists in the country.

Gedi said those responsible for the murders of HornAfrik media officials will be found and brought before justice.

Source:SomaliNet