13 Sep 2009
Riot police have clashed with angry protestors in breakaway Somaliland, killing at least three people and arresting more, including a number of journalists.

On Saturday, opposition demonstrators tried to enter the parliament building in Hargeysa after police tried to stop a debate scheduled on a motion to impeach the president over delays in the elections.

The protestors, who were chanting anti-government slogans, also set fire to three police vehicles and burned tires in the streets, AFP quoted a police officer as saying.

People within the crowd, however, accused the police of using force against their 'peaceful demonstration' and 'aggressively' dispersing the crowds by 'indiscriminate gunfire'.

Local journalists also reported that police arrested three of their colleagues, identified as Abdiqani Husein, Abdifatah and Abdiqani Abdulahi, as they were covering the demonstrations.

Interior minister of the semi-autonomous Somaliland, Abdulahi Osmail Ali, said a number of protestors were armed and used grenades and guns against government forces, wounding four policemen.

On Tuesday, police stormed the parliament building after lawmakers started fighting among themselves and one of them drew a pistol.

The tensions come amid the impeachment of President Dahir Riyale Kahin, who has been in power since 2002, and the growing calls for him to step-down.

The embattled president is seeking re-election in the upcoming polls in the face of strong challenge from Faisal Ali Warabe, of the Justice and Welfare Party, and Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, of the Development and Solidarity Party.

The conditions on the ground remain tense in Somaliland with a delay in the presidential election scheduled for September 27, the third such postponement, adding to the intensity of tensions.

A former British protectorate, Somaliland split from Somalia SME/less than a year after Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991 and is seeking international recognition as an independent state.

presstv