Puntland,(insidesomalia.org)-A Cabinet minister in Somalia' s Puntland regional government has dismissed widespread reports and allegations that the government of Puntland handed over to Ethiopian intelligence services two members of an Ethiopian rebel group.

Mohamed "Gaagaab" Ali, the Puntland finance minister, told a Tuesday press conference in the port city of Bossaso that the regional government did not hand anyone over to the Ethiopian federal government.

"I want to inform the people of Puntland that there is no one the Puntland administration handed over to the government of Ethiopia and that the people who spread such reports should be cautious," Finance Minister Gaagaab said.

Last week, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) issued a press statement condemning the Puntland government in general, and Finance Minister Gaagaab in particular, for allegedly arresting two ONLF political officers and transferring them over to Ethiopian intelligence services.

An independent inquiry by Garowe Online disclosed that two ONLF political officers, Abdinur Mohamed Soyan and Dhiire Oof, were arrested in the Puntland capital Garowe on Apr. 22 and later transferred over to Ethiopia.

But Finance Minister Gaagaab remained adamant that the government of Puntland did not arrest any ONLF officials.

Further, the Puntland Finance Minister threatened to "take measures" against a group of clan elders in Bossaso, who issued a press statement yesterday condemning the ONLF arrests.

"We will take measures against those men [clan elders] who issued the press statement because they committed a big crime against Puntland [government]," Mr. Gaagaab told journalists.

The Finance Minister also spoke about hyperinflation and rising insecurity across the region. He indicated that Puntland security forces are partly to blame for the insecurity, because the police have not actively played their role.

The ONLF is an ethnically Somali rebel outfit that is fighting for the self-determination for Ethiopia's Ogaden, a region largely inhabited by Somali-speaking peoples.

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