Government receives weapons from unnamed African, Arab states

The Transitional Government of Somalia [TGS] for the third time yesterday received consignments of weapons in Mogadishu.

The weapons were off-loaded at the Number 50 airstrip [50 km from Mogadishu], in the Lower Shabeelle Region. Though no much details were given, the weapons were transported by two vehicles, one of them a trailer, and escorted by eight technicals [pick-ups mounted with heavy machine guns] belonging to the interim government's military force into Mogadishu.

Reliable sources say the assortment of weapons had been donated by some African and Arab countries to the TGS. However, the countries have not been mentioned. T

he consignment is the third to be received by the TGS in a period of one week. Meanwhile, the chief of general staff of the Somali armed forces, Gen Isma'il Qasim Naji, returned to the country last Friday [10 May], after visiting several countries, including Yemen and the UAE, which recognize the TGS.

Ethiopia accused of seeking disintegration of Somali interim government

The Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly of Somalia, Abdallah Derow Isaq, has said the Ethiopian government is opposed to the existence in Somalia of a parliament, a government and national institutions.

Addressing a large public gathering to welcome him back home after a trip to Ethiopia, Mr Derow began his speech by commenting on the forthcoming Somali reconciliation meeting to be held in Nairobi.

He said the meeting was bent on disbanding the existing national administration, and not for reconciling the Somali people. Mr Derow said he went to Ethiopia to attend the 40th session of the African Parliamentary Union, adding he found there many people opposed to the Somali interim government, whom he described as servants of the enemies of Somalia.

Mr Derow strongly condemned the Ethiopian government, saying it wanted to divide Somalia into factions and clans, each one fighting the other. He appealed to the Somali people to work for their unity and at the same time distinguish their enemies from their friends.

Mr Derow reiterated that Ethiopia would never plan anything good for the Somali people.

Djibouti: Deposed Puntland leader said en route to Libya

Jama Ali Jama, the [deposed] president of Puntland, arrived in Djibouti last night. He was coming from Laas Canood, the main city in northwestern Somalia [Somaliland].

Mr Jama Ali Jama is to travel to Tripoli, Libya where he will probably hold talks with the countries authorities...

Arab League lashes out at Aydid for detaching Somalia from Arab world

The Arab League harshly criticized statements by Somali warlord Husayn Aydid in which he claimed that Somalia did not belong to the Arab nation. Trying to detach Somalia from the Arab world is a frustrated blackmail attempt on his part to obtain Arab financial aid, an official source at the league said Sunday [12 May].

No one can deprive Somalia of its natural affiliation to the Arab nation, the source added. This warlord, who holds the American nationality and who tries to obtain money from anywhere regardless of the source, has no right to speak of where Somalia belongs, it said.

Aydid recently said at a press conference in Somalia that the Somali people were African, not Arab, that Somalia was only a member of the Arab League but that the Somali nation was not bound to the Arab nation or Arabism in any way.

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