BAIDOA, Somalia (Garowe Online) – Members of Somalia’s federal parliament have criticized the continued detention of ex-Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed “Dheere” Omar by Ethiopian regime troops, Radio Garowe reports.

MP Yusuf Mohamed “Gurow” told reporters in Baidoa Tuesday that a group of lawmakers have met and issued a call for the Ethiopian regime to release Mr. Mohamed Dheere.

“We condemn Mohamed Dheere’s arrest, which we see as unjustified,” MP Gurow said in Baidoa, seat of the country’s interim federal parliament.

Mohamed Dheere, a former warlord, was arrested by Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers on Dec. 31 in Mogadishu and Somali MPs now say the detained ex-mayor is now being held in Baidoa, under the guard of Ethiopian Woyanne troops.

Local reports have indicated that Somali Prime Minister Nur “Adde” Hassan Hussein ordered Mohamed Dheere’s arrest, after the latter refused to surrender his weapons over to the interim government.