Somalis on trial in Ethiopia

Reports from Ethiopia say fourteen suspected Somali Islamic militants have gone on trial in Addis Ababa over attacks which left several people dead.

The Ethiopian news agency said the charges included carrying out attacks at two hotels in Addis Ababa in 1995, and the killing of a Dutch national in Dire Dawa last year.

Some of the accused were also charged with the attempted assassination of the Ethiopian transport minister, Abdel Majid Hussein, in July last year.

The accused are alleged members of the Al-Ittihad Al-Islam group which said it carried out the attack because the minister was dividing the ethnic Somali community in Ethiopia.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service