Aweys
Osman
Yusuf
Mogadishu
The home
of
Somalia's
justice
minister,
Hassan
Dhimbil,
was
attacked
around
8: 30
p.m.
local
time
while
the
minister
was away
from
home at
the
time.
Relatives
said
Ugas
Abdi
Dahir, a
tribal
leader,
was at
the home
when the
incident
occurred.
Ugas
Dahir
told
Shabelle
that the
attackers
were
unknown
gunmen.
"The
minister
was not
with me
at the
home. I
was at
his home
alone
when all
of
sudden I
saw a
blaze
and then
blast
ensued,"
he said.
He
stated
that it
was a
grenade
that was
used in
the
attack.
"I
called
on those
who are
carrying
out the
attacks
to stop
and I
once
again
call on
them to
give up
the
violence,"
he said.
Dhimbil
is the
third
government
minister
to be
assailed
by what
the
interim
government
called
remnants
of the
Islamist
fighters.
Somalia's
trade
minister,
Abdulahi
Afrah,
was
attacked
with
grenades
in early
last
month
and the
prime
minister,
Gedi,
also
survived
two
suicide
attacks.
Hawiye
Meeting
delayed
The
meeting
of
Mogadishu's
major
Hawiye
clan
which
was
supposed
to take
place in
the
capital
on
Thursday
was
postponed
after
some of
the clan
leaders
demanded
that the
withdrawal
of
Ethiopian
troops
from
Somalia
should
be
included
in their
discussion,
while
others
rebuffed
the
notion.
A group
dubbed
the
elders
of the
unity
and
tradition
of
Hawiye
issued a
press
release
on
Wednesday
expressing
that it
was
vital
that
Ethiopian
forces
to be
withdrawn
from the
country
before
the
Somalia
national
reconciliation
assembly
takes
place by
mid of
July.
The
reset of
Hawiye
denied
that
issues
pertaining
Ethiopians
to be
involved
in their
meeting,
sparking
the
indefinite
postponement
of the
clan
gathering.
Despite
the
Hawiye's
difference,
the
government
repeatedly
expressed
that the
country's
N.R.C
would
happen
as
scheduled.