Suicide Bombers Rock Somaliland

Filed at 7:46 a.m. ET

HARGEISA, Somalia (Reuters) - A wave of suicide bombings killed at least 28 people across northern Somalia on Wednesday in attacks that snatched attention from political crisis talks taking place in neighboring Kenya.

The five synchronized blasts killed some 25 people in Hargeisa and another three in Bosasso.

No group immediately claimed responsibility. But in recent months, Islamist insurgents fighting Somalia's Western-backed interim government and its Ethiopian allies have launched attacks to coincide with international efforts to end turmoil in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.

The bombers hit as leaders of the interim government met regional heads of state for talks in Nairobi. The four-year-old administration is under pressure to solve the chaos and share some power with moderate opposition figures.

Washington, and its closest ally in the region Ethiopia, say Somalia's Islamists are linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

"It is the work of the usual terrorists who try to create instability. I assure you they will not be left to get away with it. They will be brought to justice," Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin told reporters at the meeting.

In Hargeisa, in the breakaway Somaliland region, witnesses said three bombers attacked the president's office, a U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) compound and the Ethiopian embassy.

Journalist Ali Jama Mohamed was walking past the presidency when a car crashed into its doors.

"There was a big explosion and I saw many people, mostly pedestrians and some security guards, thrown to the floor. Some were dead and others wounded," Mohamed told Reuters.

Witnesses said three people were killed at the presidency, while at least 20 died at the shattered Ethiopian mission. Two people were killed at the UNDP building.

"BLOWN TO PIECES"

In Bosasso, in neighboring semi-autonomous Puntland, two suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars inside the Intelligence Service compound, killing two soldiers and a woman and wounding several other people.

"The two cars and their drivers were blown to pieces," Muse Gelle, the governor of Bari region, told Reuters. "It is too early to know all the casualties. Tensions are high and Puntland soldiers have surrounded all government institutions."

Puntland and Somaliland had been relatively quiet compared to southern Somalia, where the government and its Ethiopian military allies have been battling rebels waging a campaign of roadside bombs, artillery strikes and assassinations.

The violence has killed nearly 10,000 civilians and an unknown number of combatants since the start of last year. More than a million people have been driven from their homes.

The rebels have previously launched big attacks during mediation efforts in a move analysts say is calculated to show the interim administration who is in control on the ground.

When government officials and some opposition figures signed a peace pact at U.N.-led negotiations in Djibouti in August, hardline al Shabaab insurgents seized the strategic southern port of Kismayu in fighting that killed at least 70 people.

The Shabaab have since consolidated their control of the area, and on Monday they stoned to death a 23-year-old woman accused of adultery -- the first such public killing by the Islamists for about two years.

(Additional reporting by Abdiqani Hassan in Bosasso and Guled Mohamed in Nairobi; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Jon Boyle)

Al-Qaida's Endorsement

Al-Qaida-linked Web site backs McCain as president

By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer Pamela Hess, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 21, 11:41 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency.

The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This requires presence of an impetuous American leader such as McCain, who pledged to continue the war till the last American soldier," the message said. "Then, al-Qaida will have to support McCain in the coming elections so that he continues the failing march of his predecessor, Bush."

SITE Intelligence Group, based in Bethesda, Md., monitors the Web site and translated the message.

"If al-Qaida carries out a big operation against American interests," the message said, "this act will be support of McCain because it will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaida. Al-Qaida then will succeed in exhausting America till its last year in it."

Mark Salter, a senior McCain adviser, said he had heard about the Web site chatter but had no immediate comment.

The message is credited to a frequent and apparently respected contributor named Muhammad Haafid. However, Haafid is not believed to have a direct affiliation with al-Qaida plans or knowledge of its operations, according to SITE.

SITE senior analyst Adam Raisman said this message caught SITE's attention because there has been little other chatter on the forums about the U.S. election.

SITE was struck by the message's detailed analysis — and apparent jubilation — about American financial woes.

"What we try to do is get the pulse of the jihadist community," Raisman said. "And it's about the financial crisis."

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden issued a videotape just four days before the 2004 U.S. presidential election directly addressing the American people.

And Americans Criticize Islamic Fundamentalists?

McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred

From today's Baltimore Sun. (Thanks to TPM)

By Frank Schaeffer
John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.

John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.

We will hold you responsible.

Frank Schaeffer is the author of "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back." His e-mail is frankaschaeffer@