Aydid blames government for attack

Faction leader Husayn Aydid blamed the Transitional National Government (TNG) for the fighting in Mogadishu port on 11 and 12 May, pro-Aydid Radio Mogadishu, monitored by the BBC, reported on 12 May. Aydid claimed that he was attacked by a militia loyal to the TNG “Arta faction”, while he was on his way to attend a meeting of his United Somali Congress (USC), the radio said.

In a BBC interview on 12 May, Aydid said that local businessmen loyal to the TNG wanted to kill him, but he said he did not want to start another round of clan wars. He said he had withdrawn his forces from the Mogadishu port area “in the public interest”. Aydid thanked clan elders, who, he told the BBC, intervened and succeeded in stopping the fighting. The faction leader said he was prepared to hold talks with any person who wanted a lasting peace.

The area of Mogadishu that saw the worst of the fighting is now in the hands of militia loyal to TNG businessman, Muhammad Deylaf, who was involved in the fighting with Aydid’s forces. He had deployed his militia “from the police academy, the port and all the way to Demartini Hospital”, a local source told IRIN.