(28 Nov 2006) SHOTLIST
1. Various of Islamic leader Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, head of the Executive Council of Islamic Courts arriving at the rally with body guards
2. Various of crowd chanting "Allah Akbar" God is Greatest
3. Various veiled women carrying automatic weapon
4. Wide of crowd and local Muslim leaders at the rally
STORYLINE
A top Islamic leader accused Ethiopia on Tuesday of firing missiles on a town in central Somalia.
As thousands of enraged Somalis gathered in Mogadishu, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, head of the Executive Council of Islamic Courts, told the crowd that Ethiopians had fired 12 missiles at Bandiradley, about 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the capital
The claim could not be immediately verified.
Calls to several top Ethiopian officials went unanswered. Ahmed did not say whether there were casualties.
The accusation heightens tension in Somalia, where the Islamic movement is increasingly side-lining the country's internationally backed official government, which wields no real power.
Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation, fears the emergence of a neighbouring Islamic state and has acknowledged sending military advisers, though not a fighting force, to help the Somali government.
The Islamic militia captured Bandiradley, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from the Ethiopian border, earlier this month after claiming they came under attack from pro-government militia backed by Ethiopian troops.
The Islamic Council has been gaining ground since seizing the capital, Mogadishu, in June.
The United States accuses the group of sheltering suspects in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The group denies the accusation.
Experts say an all-out war between the two sides could engulf the region.
Sporadic skirmishes have broken out in central Somalia since May, when the Islamic movement took the large town of Jowhar and began extending north.
Several peace initiatives have failed to take hold, with both the transitional government and Islamic movement trading accusations over who is to blame for the deadlock.
Tuesday's rally in Mogadishu comes on the eve of a planned United Nations Security Council meeting in New York where a resolution on the deployment of peacekeepers to Somalia is expected to be discussed.
The Islamic group denounces the plans to send peacekeepers.
Somalia could become a proxy battleground for neighbouring Ethiopia and Eritrea, which broke away from Ethiopia in a 1961-91 civil war and fought another 1998-2000 border war with its rival.
Eritrea supports the Islamic militia, while Ethiopia backs the government.
A confidential UN report, obtained recently by The Associated Press, said six-to-eight thousand Ethiopian troops were in Somalia or along the border.
It also said 2-thousand soldiers from Eritrea were inside Somalia.
Eritrea denies having any troops in Somalia, while Ethiopia insists it has sent only a few hundred advisers.
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