Somalia Releases 11 Foreigners Detained on Terror Suspicion

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 06, 2002

Somalia Releases 11 Foreigners Detained on Terror Suspicion

Somalia police released 11 of 18 foreigners Tuesday in Mogadishu, who were detained last year on suspicion of having links to the international terrorism.

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Somalia police released 11 of 18 foreigners Tuesday in Mogadishu, who were detained last year on suspicion of having links to the international terrorism.

Investigations indicated that the eight Iraqis, two Eritreans and one Palestinian had no links to terrorism, said police spokesman Mohamed Yusuf Omar Maddaleh.

The foreigners were arrested on December 20, two weeks after the interim government set up an anti-terrorist task force in a bid to prove it was tackling possible terrorist activity in the Horn of Africa nation.

The these foreigners arrived in Somalia at various times last year from the United Arab Emirates, which deported them because they lacked valid travel documents.

Officials of Somalia's interim government had earlier said that the foreigners would be handed over to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

"These people were cleared of suspicion of any links to international terrorism and they were allowed to be sponsored by Somalis and freely live here," Maddaleh said.

Since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991 after the ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre, Somali passports looted from government offices have been readily available in the market.

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