Abdullahi Yusuf, president of Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia 25 April 2008 - Somalia's interim president has denied widespread media reports of Ethiopian soldiers entering a mosque in the capital Mogadishu and killing upwards of 20 people inside last week.

President Abdullahi Yusuf, who is on an overseas trip, told the VOA Somali Service during a Thursday interview that he is well-informed with daily events in his native country.

"I am in contact with Somalia day and night…what is being said [about the mosque massacre] is completely untrue," President Yusuf said.

He stated that "terrorist groups named al Shabaab and al Qaeda" attacked Ethiopian troops, who are in Somalia at the request of the transitional government, the Somali leader noted.

"Ethiopian troops did not come to Somalia by force and they cannot do as they like because we work together," the Somali President said, adding: "The [Ethiopian and Somali] troops will defend themselves when attacked…but there is no incident where soldiers entered a mosque and slaughtered the people inside."

The Somali President said talks with American officials in Washington, D.C., focused primarily on security, political reconciliation and the reinstitution of government organs.

President Yusuf indicated that the Ethiopian-backed transitional government is ready to open negotiation talks with "any group open to peace."

Last Monday, Mogadishu residents and journalists reported the gruesome scene at north Mogadishu's al Hidaya Mosque, where more than 20 dead bodies were discovered following 48 hours of continuous battles between Ethiopian soldiers and Islamist-led insurgents in Huriwa district.

Among the dead was Sheikh Said Yahya, a well-known Imam and the leader of the Tabliiq Islamic movement. According to eyewitnesses, some of the bodies had their throats cut off.

Nearly 100 people were killed during those two days of violence and upwards of 150 civilians wounded, according to media reports and human rights groups.

International human rights organization Amnesty International has called on the Ethiopian government to launch an inquiry into the al Hidaya Mosque massacre.

However, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry issued a statement distancing Ethiopian troops from the al Hidaya Mosque killings. The Foreign Ministry stated that the battles of Apr. 19 and Apr. 20 were "successful beyond expectation."

On Friday, Mogadishu police spokesman Abdullahi Shasha told local media that 32 young students detained by Ethiopian troops last week at al Hidaya Mosque were finally released.

The students were freed after authorities could not link them to any crimes, the spokesman said.

Source: Garowe Online