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Somali Parliament OKs Troop Rejection
 The Somali parliament affirmed its rejection of peacekeepers from neighboring countries on Friday, despite a vote that ended with lawmakers-in-exile exchanging blows and drew condemnation from the country's prime minister. Television footage on Thursday showed Kenyan police intervening to stop the turmoil in the Nairobi hotel where the lawmakers voted and fought using clubs, chairs and walking sticks. Some legislators were later seen with blood oozing from their heads.Nevertheless, the vote was legal and binding, and only troops from countries that do not share borders with Somalia can participate in the force planned to secure its transitional government, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, parliament's speaker, told The Associated Press on Friday. As he spoke, two dozen Somalis marched in Nairobi to protest the parliamentary decision. Somali ministers, Islamic clerics, and the U.S. State Department have all said sending troops from neighboring countries would derail fragile efforts to end a 14-year civil war in the Horn of Africa nation. Posted by: Fred 2005-03-19 |
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