Emboldened Al-Shabab Warns Djibouti Not to Send Troops to Somalia

A day after a brazen suicide attack in the African Union peacekeeper base in Mogadishu, Somali rebel Islamic group al-Shabab threatens neighboring Djibouti that a similar fate awaits its troops should they be sent to Somalia. The attack Thursday killed 21. The spokesman for the radical Islamist militant group al-Shabab, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, warned the government of Djibouti against sending any forces to Somalia as part of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM.He says that their troops should expect the same reception given to the Ugandan and Burundian soldiers killed Thursday if they too enter the country. Rage asserts that his group is already angered by the access to Djibouti's airports and seaports given to foreign governments. Earlier this month the Djibouti ambassador to the U.S. told VOA's Somali service that it would be sending troops to Somalia to serve in AMISOM, though the ambassador declined to say how many or when. The AMISOM spokesman in Nairobi has confirmed to VOA that the suicide bombings Thursday successfully attacked a senior meeting between AMISOM's military leadership and officials of the Western-backed transitional federal government. Seventeen peacekeepers were killed as well as four Somali civilians, who were inside the military base for the meeting. The spokesman for the prime minister of Somalia told reporters Friday that the high-level government officials were killed and wounded in the attack. .more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-18-voa45.cfm?rss=africa