Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The group, led by the moderate Islamist leader, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, said that it never condoned the taking of hostages which it said was a criminal act, dismissing Kenyan accusations that the movement are behind the raid as "baseless." "Those who crossed into the neighboring country of Kenya and took hostages of aid workers are not members of the (The Supreme Council of Islamic) Courts' fighters," Abdurahim Isse Adow, spokesman for the group in Mogadishu told Xinhua.
Adow said that his group is "in principle against taking hostages for ransom" and denied any involvement in the raid across the common border of the two countries on Monday.
The movement is the only faction, within the opposition coalition, the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS), that has signed a peace and power-sharing deal with Somali government.
The Kenyan government said Monday that Islamist movement, which ruled much of south and central Somalia in the latter half of 2006,was to blame for the abduction of the two Italian nuns and three vehicles from Kenyan border town.
"We were surprised to learn that the Kenyan government is accusing our organization of involvement in the criminal act. That is baseless and far from the truth," Adow said.
The Catholic nuns Maria Teresa Oliviero and Catherina Giruado were seized in a pre-dawn raid on Monday by scores of attackers who stormed the small town of El Wak, firing wildly and launching a rocket at a Kenyan police post before escaping back across the border in hijacked vehicles.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of the two nuns but hostages are often taken by freelance gangs who demand hefty ransom for their release which often took place after negotiations with the gunmen.
A number of other foreigners are being held hostage for ransom in Somalia, where both locals and foreigners are kidnapped mainly for ransom and are mostly released after intervention by local clan elders who wield substantial influence on militias.