Prisoners stress Ethiopia's involvement in Somalia

Prisoners of war who were recently freed in Baidoa, southern Somalia, reported on Sunday that they were taken as prisoners by the Ethiopian army rather than by a rival Somali faction.

AFP quoted those prisoners as saying that they were held in a factory which was guarded by Ethiopian soldiers, who took part with al-Rahnowin group in controlling Baidoa following a battle with forces affiliated to Muhammad Hassan Aideed's group.

One of the prisoners added that the Ethiopians dealt with the prisoners in a very humanitarian way and prevented the al-Rahnowin group from killing a colleague of theirs.

High-ranking army officers at Aideed's group considered the statements made by the released prisoners as the first confirmation from a neutral side of the involvement of the Ethiopians in the battle of Baidoa, especially as Addis Ababa has ever denied its intervention in this battle.

Following its control of Baidoa on June 6, the Rahnowin group arrested more that 100 persons who back Muhammad Hassan Aideed.