Mugo Njeru
Nairobi, Oct. 11 (Daily Nation) - Somalia's president Abdullahi Yusuf has warned African governments to be wary of a creeping culture of suicide bombers following an attempt on his life three weeks ago.
Never before has the Horn of Africa region witnessed an incident such as his attempted assassination on September 18 which left scores of people dead.
"I'm a soldier by training and I can tell this is the first time this has happened in this region and we have to protect ourselves from these terrorists," Mr Yusuf said in an an exclusive interview with the Nation at Baidoa - the seat of his Transitional National Government.
The culture of suicide bombers, he said, was only common in Middle East and Asian countries.
Although investigations into the attack were going on, preliminary findings pointed fingers at a local organisation - Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya - which is affiliated to the Union of Islamic Courts, believed to have links with the al Qaeda terrorist network.
Intelligence sources of the fledging government further disclosed that two vehicles belonging to members of his parliament were also under investigations over claims that they were used in the assassination bid.
Mr Yusuf gave a chilling account of how he escaped death by a whisker even as the vehicle he was in was rocked by a bomb explosion.
The president said he was lucky to have escaped with minor burns on his neck and slight injuries to his face sustained from flying broken windscreen pieces.
He recalled seeing the burning shell of his lead security car after being tossed by the impact of the bomb before a Toyota Landcruiser veered in front of his car which rammed it in the rear.
Three of his security agents in the car died on the spot while three others sustained serious injuries.
"My car also exploded and my security men pulled me out of the burning car only to be met by a hail of bullets from both sides of the road from the enemies who were dressed in military uniform," he said.
Many members of the hit squad were shot dead by his team as some shielded him and got him into another car which sped him to the safety of the presidential residence a few kilometres away, said President Yusuf.
He said the incident happened shortly after he had addressed members of his Parliament and maintained that his government would continue ruling despite the threat posed by the Union of Islamic courts.
Before he boarded his car, he said, he was seen out of the temporary parliament building by his prime minister, Mr Mohamed Ghedi and the Speaker, Mr Shariff Hassan Sheik Adan.
Source: Daily Nation, Oct. 11, 2006