Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Somali News Bulletin: US-backed Ethiopian Troops Set to Pull Out; Nigeria May Send in Troops

Tuesday, December 23, 2008
06:06 Mecca time, 03:06 GMT

Ethiopia set for Somalia pull out

Ethiopian troops are set to pull out of Somalia by the end of the year

Ethiopia has refused to reverse its decision to withdraw its forces from Somalia by the end of the year, despite a plea from the African Union (AU) to delay the move which it fears may result in a security vacuum inside the country.

The government in Addis Ababa said last month that it would pull its troops out by the scheduled time amid fears the war-torn country could descend into further anarchy unless more peacekeepers are sent.

"We appeal to Ethiopia to consider phasing out withdrawal, until such time [when] more troops from Nigeria, Uganda and Burundi are deployed in Somalia," the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU said in a statement at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital on Monday.

"The security situation in Somalia is alarming ... piracy is escalating against the background of weakening leadership and insurgents control nearly all the country with the exception of Mogadishu and Baidoa."

"The security situation in Somalia is alarming ... piracy is escalating against the background of weakening leadership and insurgents control nearly all the country"

African Union statement

There are currently some 3,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia supporting the embattled Transitional Federal Government [TFG], which is based in the southern town of Baidoa.

A further 3,400 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi make up the AU mission in the country.

That number is well below the 8,000 troops pledged by the AU two years ago.

But despite the shortfall Ethiopian officials said the pullout of their forces would go ahead.

"The decision to withdraw troops from Somalia was a commitment made by the country's authorities to parliament and will not be changed," said Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia's minister of state.

About 850 Nigerian troops are expected to join the AU peacekeepers already stationed in the country.

Rift

Adding to the fragility of Somalia's TFG government is a growing rift between Abdullahi Yusuf, the president, and Nur Hassan Hussein, the man he sacked as prime minister.

The AU and the US government have backed Hussein and have so far refused to recognise Mohamud Mohamed Guled, the new Somali prime minister, who was selected by the president.

The TFG is also facing an escalation in attacks from opposition fighters, that threatens to reach Mogadishu, the capital.

Fighters from al-Shabab, a group which split from the armed Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), have control of several town and cities across Somalia.

The opposition controls the south of Somalia and has launched a series of raids on Ethiopian forces which have tried to defend the government.

At least 10,000 civilians have been killed in two years of fighting, while a million people have been forced to flee their homes.

Source: Agencies


Monday, December 22, 2008
13:44 Mecca time, 10:44 GMT

Nigeria 'to join AU Somalia force'

Fighters from al-Shabab have won control of several Somali towns and cities

Nigerian troops are likely to be added to an African Union (AU) force in Somalia in January after Ethiopian soldiers pull out of the country, the African bloc has said.

The commitment by Umar Yar'Adua, Nigeria's president, comes as Addis Ababa prepares to withdraw its 3,000-strong contingent from Somalia.

"The president of Nigeria has confirmed to me personally that one Nigerian battalion will be sent to Somalia in a short time," Jean Ping, the AU's commission chairman, said on Sunday.

"He told me that the troops are equipped and ready, which makes me believe they will be sent in January," he said.

About 850 officers and men are in the battalion, which has been preparing for deployment since August.

"Nigeria had first promised to send troops to Somalia one-and-a-half years ago," Mohammed Adow, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Nairobi, the capital of nieghbouring Kenya, said.

Filling the AU contingent for Somalia up to its intended level of 8,000 troops has been beset by difficulty, Adow said, with only just over half that number now pledged to the force.

"Given the difficulties that there have been in getting countries to volunteer to Somalia - especailly with all the problems in Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan's Darfur region - it is very difficult to get more troops for Somalia," he said.

Political wrangling

Somalia's weak transitional government is facing a fresh surge in attacks from opposition fighters, threatening the fall of the capital Mogadishu.

Fighters from al-Shabab, a group which split from the armed Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), have control of several town and cities across Somalia.

The opposition controls the south of Somalia and has launched a series of raids on Ethiopian forces which have tried to defend the government, as well as 3,200 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi.

At least 10,000 civilians have been killed in two years of fighting, while a million people have been forced to flee their homes.

There has also been continued wrangling between Abdullahi Yusuf, Somalia's president, and Nur Hassan Hussein, who was sacked as prime minister by Yusuf last week.

The AU and Washington have backed Hussein and have so far refused to recognise Mohamud Mohamed Guled, the new Somali prime minister, who Yusuf selected.

Sanctions imposed

Ministers gathered at a meeting of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad), which has overseen the Somali peace process, agreed on Sunday to impose immediate sanctions on Guled.

"[Igad] regrets the attempts by president Abdullahi Yusuf to unconstitutionally appoint a new prime minister that Igad does not recognise and decides to impose sanctions on him and his associates immediately," it said in a statement, without elaborating.

Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopia's foreign minister and chair of Igad's council of ministers, said that Yusuf could also face sanctions.

"If Yusuf is committed to continue on this path sanctions will be imposed on him too," he said.

The AU's peace and security council is due to hold talks in the Ethiopian capital on Monday to discuss Somalia.

The AU force to Somalia was originally intended to be filled by 8,000 soldiers but the bloc has since struggled to get commitments on troops from member countries.

Although Uganda and Burundi each have a battalion ready to go, they are seeking financial support and equipment so that they can be sent to Somalia.

Since it was founded in 2004, Somalia's transitional government has struggled to assert power across the Horn of Africa nation.

The country has been unstable since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies


Monday, December 22, 2008
14:47 Mecca time, 11:47 GMT

Somali group seeks Sharia expansion

Al-Shabab fighters have won control of swaths of Somali territory in recent months

Fighters with Al-Shabab, an armed group that has taken control of the southern city of Kismayu, have told Al Jazeera they plan to impose Islamic law across Somalia.

Kismayu, Somalia's third biggest city, was once one of the most dangerous places in the south of the country.

However, relative calm has been restored to Kismayu after the Al-Shabab Mujahideen Movement and one of its key allies, the Raaskambooni Camp Mujahideen, seized control of the city from local clans three months ago.

Abu Ayman, the leader of the Raaskambooni Camp Mujahideen, told Al Jazeera: "We want to use Kismayu as an example and a model of our rule to the rest of Somalia.

"Our aim is to get residents in faraway towns inviting us to come and govern them according to the way of Allah. The calm in Kismayu has benefited its down-trodden most."

Most of Kismayu’s residents agree with Ayman, saying they are now able to go about normal life without fear of attacks by marauding gangs of armed men who had terrorised them periodically for nearly 18 years.

"I remember times when young boys with knives used to rob us of our daily earnings. Now we can carry lots of money without any fear of being robbed," Mohammed Fundi, a porter and Kismayu resident, said.

Seyyid Ali, also a porter in the city, said: "We used to be sort of enslaved. When we load six lorries, we used to be paid for just one or two. Today we get wages equal to our output. We have justice here."

Peace, at a price

But Mohammed Adow, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Kismayu, said the apparent peace had come at a price.

“International aid agencies, the lifeline of Somalia’s poor, fled the town because of the fighting.

"They have still not returned as the Islamists have little tolerance for anything - or anyone – foreign," he said.

Adow said that "the suffering is huge as the poor are largely left to fend for themselves".

Kismayu has been left with just one hospital to serve the needs of nearly one million people from the city and surrounding areas.

The hospital used to be run by Medicins Sans Frontieres, who were forced to abandon the centre eight months ago after members of staff were killed.

Now, it is common for just one doctor to be on duty at a time, and medical supplies are dwindling.

Total breakdown

Dr Ali Hassan, who works at the hospital, said: “Our needs are many. Imagine a hospital like this operating without assistance from government or aid agencies. We have a shortage of drugs, equipment and staff are not motivated in any way."

Adow described the people of Kismayu as "numb to the myriad problems surrounding them".

"They [residents] have survived the vagaries of war. They have weathered the almost 20 changes in Kismayu’s administrations over the past 18 years and its people have learned to live with and obey any group that has the upper hand," he said.

Somalia has had no effective government since a coup removed Siad Barre from power in 1991, leading to an almost total breakdown in law and order across most of the country.

The only relative stability experienced by some parts of the country came during the brief six-month rule of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006.

However, they were driven out of the capital Mogadishu, and other areas, by Ethiopian and government troops – sparking an upsurge in fighting.

Ethiopia is due to remove its troops from war-torn Somalia by the end of the year.

Source: Al Jazeera
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Feedback Number of comments : 1
C.J.T
United States 21/12/2008

what is wrong here...

Is Aljazeera becoming Anti-Islamic?! Why the propaganda!? Somali people don't need any more of this un-ethical behavior of reporting issues! Nor the muslim world need anymore of this HATE media. What would a western understand from hearing "Sharia Expansion"? It will only take time till a genecide on the people of somalia is accured due to this propaganda Shame on you Aljazeera!

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