London BBC World Service “African News” program (in English) — 0730 GMT

Libya has denied that it has been supporting government forces in Somalia in their campaign against Somali rebels. The official Libyan news agency said Libya had repeatedly asserted that it had no military forces in Somalia.

The denial was in response to claims by Somali rebel groups that hundreds of Libyan military personnel had arrived in Somalia and that some were already engaged in fighting in the north of the country. The Libyan statement followed an acknowledgement yesterday by the Somali leader President Siad Barre that there had been mutinies in the Army.

President Barre told a meeting of farmers that some government soldiers are now fighting alongside Somali rebels after turning on the officers who had trained them.