Somali's Yusuf narrates assassination ordeal

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has for the first time narrated his narrow escape from an assassin's bomb, saying his attackers were dressed in military uniform similar to those of his forces.

"The intention was to kill myself and anybody else who could be killed with me," the Somali leader told Kenya's independent Nation Television (NTV) in Baidoa in an interview broadcast here Wednesday.

Suicide bombers attacked the convoy of the Somali leader moments after he addressed a crucial parliamentary sitting in Baidoa on Sept. 18.

The attempted assassination has been roundly condemned by the seven-member Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which pledged a detailed probe on those behind the attack.

"We were not far from the parliament hall when a sudden explosion took place. It was a very strong and massive explosion," Yusuf said, accusing the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts that has been challenging his control over the country for the attack.

President Yusuf said one of his brothers was among those who died instantly after the attack.

"Our car went against another lead car on the convoy. I was wounded in the neck and there were scratches of mirror on my face, "President Yusuf said, showing a huge burn at the back of his head, which he sustained as he struggled to move out of the blazing car.

Somali Foreign Minister Ismael Hurreh confirmed that 11 people were killed during the botched assassination bid and said the government could not point accusing fingers at any armed groups in the country but pointed out. "There were footprints of the Al Qaeda."

Somali investigators have arrested three people in connection with the Sept. 18 suicide bombing in the country and recovered deadly explosives, which ballistic experts there say were meant to cause a huge explosion covering a 60-meter radius.

"I am sure the Union of Islamic Courts is behind this, as a military man, I know that," President Yusuf said, adding that the Islamic Courts was an affiliate of the dreaded Al Qaeda terror network, which is headed by Osama bin Laden.

President Yusuf further revealed that attackers went ahead to fire at his car with small arms after his narrow escape, adding that the attack was so well coordinated and seemed to have received the cooperation of international terrorists.

Somalia fell into lawlessness in 1991 after the ousting of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre by US-backed warlords. The Islamists, who took the capital Mogadishu from them in June and have since continued to amass territory in the country, have brought security to parts of the conflict-ridden country.

The Transitional Federal Government has the backing of the international community but has been divided since it was formed in 2004, with nearly 20 ministers resigning earlier this year.

The situation has become even more volatile since the takeover of key port town Kismayo on Sunday.

The two sides had agreed not to expand territory in the second round of peace talks brokered by the Arab League in the Sudanese capital Khartoum earlier this month.

Source: Xinhua