Aideed defends Egypt

The pro-Hussein Aideed radio station has strongly defended Egypt’s policy towards Somalia in a commentary which described Egypt as a “genuine friend” of Somalia. In the report monitored by BBC radio, it said Egypt was one of the countries that strongly committed itself to helping beleaguered Somalia, by organising “several peace conferences in Cairo”. It had also helped with education and health, said the report. It said claims that the Egyptian government “is against the peace process” were baseless and obscured the positive role that Egypt had played: “May Somalia’s relationship with Egypt continue to grow even stronger,” it added. Egypt has been the focus of demonstrations in southern Somalia and Djibouti, where it was accused of persuading Mogadishu-based faction leader Hussein Mohamed Aideed to carry out an eleventh-hour boycott of the Djibouti-hosted Somali National Peace Talks. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Musa said Egypt “fully supports” the Djbiouti peace initiative, the Egyptian news agency MENA reported.