By Tsegaye Tadesse
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia rejected on Thursdayaccusations by Amnesty International that its soldiers killed21 people at a Somali mosque as "lies" and "propaganda".
The rights group said on Wednesday the soldiers, stationedin Somalia to bolster the interim government, had also captureddozens of children in a raid on the Al Hidaaya mosque earlierthis week during operations against Islamist insurgents.
It said an imam and several Islamic scholars were among thedead, and that seven victims had their throats slit.
"Amnesty's allegations are unsubstantiated lies andpropaganda that they received from Islamic groups in Somalia.Ethiopia has never been involved in such incidents," saidInformation Ministry spokesman Zemedkun Tekle.
"Ethiopia would have been surprised if Amnesty had saidsomething positive about Ethiopia rather than its usual lies."
Bereket Simon, President Meles Zenawi's special adviser,also criticised the report, noting that the human rights grouphas no presence in the Horn of Africa nation.
"Amnesty International has no representatives on the groundin Somalia," he told Reuters. "It is gathering hearsay andaccusing Ethiopia based on false information."
Some moderate Islamist leaders in Somalia have postponedplans to attend U.N.-sponsored peace talks after the mosqueincident and an escalation of fighting in Mogadishu.
"BRUTAL KILLINGS"
Residents said four more corpses were found in the coastalcapital on Wednesday, bringing the death toll from lastweekend's shelling and seizure of small towns by the Islamiststo at least 103. The clashes were the worst in recent months.
In a statement, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes urgedprotection for civilians and criticised the mosque raid.
"He also strongly condemned the brutal killings thatoccurred on 20 April at Al Hidaaya mosque in Heliwaa districtof Mogadishu, where women and children were present," said astatement from his New York office.
Holmes's statement said heavy artillery was used inresidential areas during recent clashes. "Combatants appear tohave little regard for the safety of civilians in Mogadishu,where residents have been traumatised by years of violence."
The Islamist insurgents -- remnants of a sharia courtsmovement ousted from their strongholds in Mogadishu and much ofsouthern Somalia at the end of 2006 -- view the presence oftraditional foe Ethiopia in their country as an "occupation".
Civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict, which alocal rights group says killed 6,500 people last year. Onemillion Somalis live as internal refugees.
The government is struggling to assert its authority inSomalia, deprived of an effective central government since the1991 toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
(Additional reporting by Barry Malone in Addis Ababa andAndrew Cawthorne in Nairobi)
(Writing by Katie Nguyen; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne andCatherine Evans)
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