Somali PM unhurt in stadium blast, 10 dead

Tue May 3, 2005

By Mohamed Ali Bile

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed by an explosion at a soccer stadium in Somalia's capital Mogadishu where the prime minister had just addressed hundreds of supporters on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Prime Minister Ali Gedi escaped unhurt and talked to reporters shortly afterwards, saying he was in shock.

The cause of the blast, just days after Gedi's arrival in Mogadishu on a trip to mend a rift in the fledgling government, was not immediately clear.

Lawlessness has continued to plague Mogadishu despite the formation of President Abdullahi Yusuf's Transitional Federal Government in the relative security of neighbouring Kenya last year in an attempt to end 14 years of chaos and bloodshed.

Seven people were killed at the stadium, one was killed by a vehicle escaping the scene and two others died on their way to hospital, witnesses said. Officials at three hospitals said they were treating a total of 35 wounded.

The powerful blast destroyed a wall of the stadium and witnesses said they saw lots of blood at the scene.

Gedi flew to Mogadishu on Friday for the first time since his appointment last year to try to end a rift in his government and shore up sagging confidence in efforts to rebuild the broken country.

Foreign governments and donors have put increasing pressure on the new government to return home.

But cabinet ministers and members of parliament are split over which city it should initially be based in -- a dispute that stems from power struggles among rival clans and regional powers vying for dominance in Somalia, diplomats say.

MPs aligned to Yusuf say they want to temporarily relocate to the relatively calmer cities of Baidoa and Jowhar.

Others insist the government should return to Mogadishu, Somalia's single most dangerous place, which the transitional constitution stipulates must serve as the capital.

Yusuf has asked African and Arab states to supply 7,500 troops to help disarm the militiamen roaming Mogadishu since warlords overran the Horn of Africa country in 1991, ousting military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

However, militant Islamists and influential warlords - some of whom are in the government - have vowed to attack troops from so-called frontline states of Kenya, Djibouti and longstanding rival Ethiopia if they are deployed.

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