The owner of a vehicle from which assailants shot at a north Mogadishu hotel where Somalia's transitional prime minister and other MPs live said Friday that his gunmen returned fire after being attacked by guards.
Three people were killed in the shooting on Thursday, but transitional Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh was not present in the Ramadan Hotel and other MPs staying there were unhurt.
The shots were fired by men riding in a vehicle identified as belonging to MP Mohamed Omar Habeb, who has withdrawn his support for the transitional government.
"My men received fire from those guarding Ramadan hotel and reasonably returned minimal fire, being too careful not inflict collateral damage," said Habeb.
"I have no intention of firing on the premises occupied by civilians. My men were not instructed to fire on anybody, but the attack was provoked by (President Abdulkassim) Salat Hassan's gunmen," Habeb told AFP by telephone from Ali Maow Hotel in Jowhar town, 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Mogadishu.
He said that none of his militiamen was hurt in the shootout and that they had arrived safely in Jowhar.
"I send my condolences to any victims of the shootout," said Habeb.
His remarks contradicted a report by Mogadishu police chief Colonel Abdi Hassan Awale "Qeybdid,” who said the assailants may have fired on the hotel accidentally.
"There was no accident at all but a deliberate attack by Salat's militiamen on my wagon passing near the hotel. The owner of the hotel is my relative," Habeb said.
Renewing his political attack on Salat, who was appointed president last August in a reconciliation conference organized by neighboring Djibouti, Habeb said he had no respect for the transitional government and urged other MPs to withdraw support.
Habeb, a member of the Abgal clan, controls part of the southern Middle Shabelle region around Jowhar -- MOGADISHU (AFP)
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