Reuters
05-AUG-98
MOGADISHU, Aug 5 (Reuters)- A Libyan diplomat leaving Somalia has been robbed by militiamen at an airport south of the capital, witnesses said on Wednesday.
Ten gunmen driving an armoured ``battle wagon'' stopped the diplomats bullet-proof car at Ballidogle airport, 90 km (56 miles) south of Mogadishu on Tuesday, they said.
The diplomat, whose name was not immediately known, attended the launch on Monday of a new administration for Mogadishu.
He was unharmed but his vehicle was stolen along with 20 assault rifles carried by his escort militia, witnesses said.
Ballidogle airport is controlled by south Mogadishu faction leader Hussein Mohamed Aideed, who set up the new city administration with rival warlord Ali Mahdi Mohamed.
But political analysts said the new body did not appoint the commander of the militiamen at Ballidogle as airport manager as expected. They said this was behind the attack on the diplomat, who had helped draw up plans for the new administration.
Hussein Aideed and Ali Mahdi on Tuesday announced that the presidential palace of ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre would be the headquarters of the administration, while the former police headquarters would be used for the same purpose.
The administration is opposed by another powerful warlord, Osman Ali Atto, who says the body is unrepresentative.
Hussein Aideed and Ali Mahdi have agreed to unite their militiamen to defend the administration.
Somalia has been without a central government since the overthrow of Siad Barre in 1991 and is carved up into clan-based fiefdoms.