Mogadishu - Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab on Friday denied responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 22 people, including three ministers, at a graduation for medical students. "I would like to send my condolences to teachers and students who died in the explosion - we really heard about this catastrophe from the media ... we are not involved in this case," al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mahamoud Rage, told reporters in Mogadishu Friday.
Initial suspicion turned on al-Shabaab - which the US says has links to al-Qaeda - after a man dressed as a woman detonated an explosive device strapped to his body at the Hotel Shamo on Thursday.
The insurgent group has increasingly turned to suicide bombings as it battles to oust the weak Western-backed government. It has claimed responsibility for previous blasts.
Rage blamed the government for the bombing, implying it was a result of in-fighting between rival politicians.
"The apostate government, which always kills innocent Muslims, was behind this tragedy," he said.
Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali, Higher Education Minister Ibrahim Hassan Addow and Education Minister Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel died in the blast. The Minister for Youth and Sports, Saleeban Olaad Roble, was seriously injured.
Two journalists, a doctor, students and their families were amongst the dead.
Hundreds of students and their family members, lecturers and government officials were attending the ceremony for graduates from the local Banadir University.
The hotel lies inside an area controlled by the government, only one kilometer from AMISOM's main base.
The bombing raises further questions about the government and the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia's (AMISOM) ability to police the few areas they control in Somalia.
Seventeen peacekeepers died in a suicide blast at the AU's main base in September, while Somalia's Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden was among dozens killed in a suicide car bomb attack on a hotel in the central town of Baladweyne in June.
AMISOM - which is at just over half of its mandated strength of 8,000 troops and is struggling to cope with the insurgency - condemned the latest bombing, but said it remained committed to helping bring peace to Somalia.
"AMISOM wishes to state that such an inhumane and cowardly act ... will not deter the resolve and determination of the African Union to support the people of Somalia in their quest for peace and reconciliation," AMISOM said in a statement issued from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Condemnation for the blast flew in from other quarters, including the United Nations and the European Union.
Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, assured Somalia of the "EU's determination and commitment to support its efforts to fight extremism and reconstruct a peaceful Somalia".
Many attribute the rise in suicide bombings, generally alien to Somalia, to outside influences.
Government ministers, foreign diplomats and AU officials say foreign fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan are increasingly flocking to the lawless Horn of Africa nation to fight alongside al-Shabaab - which controls much of the country - and attend terrorist training camps.
Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Over 19,000 people have died in the current insurgency, which kicked off in early 2007 after Ethiopian forces invaded to oust an Islamist regime that ruled for six months in 2006.
Initial suspicion turned on al-Shabaab - which the US says has links to al-Qaeda - after a man dressed as a woman detonated an explosive device strapped to his body at the Hotel Shamo on Thursday.
The insurgent group has increasingly turned to suicide bombings as it battles to oust the weak Western-backed government. It has claimed responsibility for previous blasts.
Rage blamed the government for the bombing, implying it was a result of in-fighting between rival politicians.
"The apostate government, which always kills innocent Muslims, was behind this tragedy," he said.
Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali, Higher Education Minister Ibrahim Hassan Addow and Education Minister Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel died in the blast. The Minister for Youth and Sports, Saleeban Olaad Roble, was seriously injured.
Two journalists, a doctor, students and their families were amongst the dead.
Hundreds of students and their family members, lecturers and government officials were attending the ceremony for graduates from the local Banadir University.
The hotel lies inside an area controlled by the government, only one kilometer from AMISOM's main base.
The bombing raises further questions about the government and the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia's (AMISOM) ability to police the few areas they control in Somalia.
Seventeen peacekeepers died in a suicide blast at the AU's main base in September, while Somalia's Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden was among dozens killed in a suicide car bomb attack on a hotel in the central town of Baladweyne in June.
AMISOM - which is at just over half of its mandated strength of 8,000 troops and is struggling to cope with the insurgency - condemned the latest bombing, but said it remained committed to helping bring peace to Somalia.
"AMISOM wishes to state that such an inhumane and cowardly act ... will not deter the resolve and determination of the African Union to support the people of Somalia in their quest for peace and reconciliation," AMISOM said in a statement issued from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Condemnation for the blast flew in from other quarters, including the United Nations and the European Union.
Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, assured Somalia of the "EU's determination and commitment to support its efforts to fight extremism and reconstruct a peaceful Somalia".
Many attribute the rise in suicide bombings, generally alien to Somalia, to outside influences.
Government ministers, foreign diplomats and AU officials say foreign fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan are increasingly flocking to the lawless Horn of Africa nation to fight alongside al-Shabaab - which controls much of the country - and attend terrorist training camps.
Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Over 19,000 people have died in the current insurgency, which kicked off in early 2007 after Ethiopian forces invaded to oust an Islamist regime that ruled for six months in 2006.
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