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* Rockets,
mortar bombs recovered
* Imam had criticized rebel tactics
Hargeysa, Somaliland, January 09, 2010 – (SL Times) – Security forces in
Somaliland said on Saturday they had foiled an attack on a mosque in
Hargeysa where the imam had spoken out against militant suicide
bombings.
Somaliland prides itself on its relative stability, unlike southern
parts of the failed Horn of Africa state, where hardline rebels from the
al Shabaab group control large swaths of territory and are battling a
weak Western-backed government.
But al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia,
wants to extend its influence north into Somaliland and neighboring,
semi-autonomous pro-government Puntland.
Mohamed Saqadi Dubbad, the commander of Somaliland's security forces,
said six rockets and two mortar bombs were recovered from Imam Sheikh
Aden Sira's mosque after a local woman saw a suspected bomber carrying
the explosives in a jacket.
"She thought he had stolen what he was carrying and ran to grab him,"
Dubbad told reporters. "The man could not free himself, but he
threatened the woman, saying: 'I will blow you up with me if you do not
release me,' so she released him."
Imam Sira had been critical of suicide bombings carried out by al
Shabaab insurgents in southern Somalia, and officials said he had
received death threats from the militants.
Al Shabaab hit Somaliland and Puntland with synchronized suicide blasts
that killed at least 24 people in Oct. 2008.
A court in Hargeysa has sentenced five men to death in absentia for the
bombings, which struck the Ethiopian embassy, the local president's
office and a U.N. building. It said they were on the run in other parts
of Somalia.
Somaliland, which has long sought international recognition as sovereign
state, declared itself independent in 1991. (Editing by Daniel Wallis
and Dominic Evans)
Source: Reuters
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