Deadly Car Bombing In Somalia Sparks Condemnation

Deadly Car Bombing In Somalia Sparks Condemnation By UN Envoy

New York, Sep 18 2006 3:00PM

The senior United Nations envoy to Somalia has condemned today’s assassination attempt on the life of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, which failed but resulted in death or injuries to scores of people in the troubled Horn of Africa country.

In a message of behalf of the UN and the European Union (EU), the Secretary-General’s Special Representative Francois Lonsény Fall said he was relieved that President Yusuf and other leaders had survived the car bombing. But he voiced sadness at the loss of life and injuries to bystanders.

The car bombing took place near the parliament in Baidoa, where Somalia’s transitional Government is based. Media reports say at least 11 people were killed in the attack.

Earlier this month, talks resumed in Khartoum between Somalia’s Transitional Federal Institutions and the Union of the Islamic Courts, which control the capital Mogadishu and much of the country.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since the regime of then president Muhammad Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.

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