(6) Somali MPs among 32 killed in Mogadishu hotel massacre/Al-Shabab vows 'massive' Somali war

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

Suicide bomber and gunmen dressed in army uniforms storm hotel, triggering deadly shootout with police in Somali capital -

Mark Tran and agencies -
Tuesday August 24 2010 13.21 BST -

At least 32 people were killed when gunmen and a suicide bomber dressed in army uniforms stormed a hotel in Mogadishu today in an attack that triggered an hour-long gun battle in the Somali capital. Six members of parliament who were staying at the hotel, an 11-year-old shoe-shine boy and a woman selling tea outside were among the dead. Another MP staying at the Muna hotel said there were "dead bodies all over" and described the scene as a massacre.

A hotel worker who fled the building, which is located a half-mile from the presidential palace, said one of the attackers had blown himself up.

The attack came amid further fighting that began in Mogadishu yesterday. At least 40 civilians have been killed and 130 wounded, according to the head of Mogadishu's ambulance service, Ali Muse.

The violence broke out after the spokesman for Somalia's most dangerous militant group declared a "massive war" on what he labelled "invaders", a reference to the 6,000 peacekeeping troops from the African Union propping up the weak Somali government.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/24/somali-mps-mogadishu-hotel-massacre

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Al-Shabab vows 'massive' Somali war

Source: Al Jazeera English

=snip=

'Final war'

The flare-up came after al-Shabab fighters declared a "massive, final" war against what they called "invaders" and attacked army barracks in several districts of Mogadishu on Monday.

Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, al-Shabab's spokesman, had said on Monday that fighters were starting a new war against "invaders", an apparent reference to the 6,000 African Union troops deployed in the country to support government forces.

At least 40 people were reportedly killed and more than 100 injured in the violence that followed, medics and witnesses said.

There was an overnight lull before the fighting resumed on Tuesday morning.

Full article and in depth analysis: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/08/201082464449278785.html

NYT article on this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/world/africa/25somalia.html?_r=1&src=mv

[cpwm17]

1. US Foreign Policy at Work

Few Americans know of US responsibility for this fiasco. And many that do support it.

This is just terrible. Somalia finally had a decent government several years ago run by moderate Muslims. But the masters of the Universe, the US government, wouldn't allow it. So the US supported an Ethiopian invasion to install a puppet government. Of course the Somalis didn't support the illegitimate government. Now the not so moderate al-Shabab is fighting to get back control of the government.

The US is shipping in a large amount of weapon which all side are using to kill each other.

Now the Somalis hate the US, and many want to fight back But of course it's because they are just crazy radical Muslims.

[nyy1998]

2. Wait, Somalia had an actual Parliament?

I'm not shocked by the violence, but the fact they had some version of a central government in existent.

Somaliland really does need to break off from this hell-hole.

[Posteritatis]

3. An attempt at one, at least

For the last few years there's been something mockingly called a government that basically controls whatever's inside the clothing worn by its members and not much beyond that for the last few years. Until several months ago they were doing all of their work in Kenya, which should give you an idea of how much authority they have.

Somaliland's broken away for all practical purposes, and has been for years; I don't think anyone officially recognizes them yet, though a few neighboring countries honour their passports and similar documents. I'd love for anyone, anyone at all, to formally recognize them though. The two most common objections are that recognizing them would stir up seperatism elsewhere in Africa (to which I don't quite say "so what?" given how well the borders worked in the first place), and that a state can't secede from a government which doesn't exist (which is too ridiculous to warrant rebuttal).

If the Knights Hospitaller are recognized as a sovereign entity under international law, there's really no reason I can't see that an area that's carved out a much more temporal independence shouldn't.