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MOGADISHU, Oct 5: Somalia’s powerful Islamist movement claimed on Thursday that Ethiopian troops were shelling a Muslim-held town near the two countries’ border and said it had put its forces on alert for an invasion.
The charge was quickly denied by Addis Ababa but heightened existing tensions as the weak Somali government warned that Arab League-mediated peace talks between it and the Islamists were jeopardised by alleged Arab bias.
And, the complex situation was further muddied by the defection of several dozen members of the Somali parliament from the government seat in Baidoa to the Islamist stronghold in Mogadishu.—AFP
