Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
Aweys Osman Yusuf
23 January 2007
Mogadishu — A farewell ceremony was held in the former army-training academy in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday for the Ethiopian troops reportedly leaving Somalia.
Sources close the government indicate that several contingents of the Ethiopian troops will remain in Somalia to safeguard the government that is militarily dependent on the Ethiopian forces. Hundreds of Ethiopian troops have left central Somalia on Tuesday for the capital Mogadishu.
In the ceremony, the top Ethiopian General, Seum Hagoss, has stated that he received message from his Ethiopian government. "I was ordered by my senior officials in Addis Ababa that all Ethiopian troops in Somalia should pull out. Starting today our troops are leaving," he said.
The news comes hours after President Abdulahi Yusuf has gone to Addis Ababa with Ethiopian foreign minister, who paid a clandestine visit to Mogadishu yesterday. The FM Mesfin told local journalists yesterday that his country was determined in helping Somalia with the cooperation of the interim government.
Gen. Hagoss said about fifty military trucks carrying Ethiopian soldiers supported by tanks and armored vehicles were on their way out of Somalia. He affirmed that all Ethiopian troops would leave in a matter of weeks.
The interim government supported by Ethiopian forces seized most of the country including the capital on late December last year.
Gedi concludes an official visit in Sudan
Somali prime minister Ali Mohammed Gedi, who has concluded a three-day official visit to Khartoum, Sudan, has revealed that the thousands of Ethiopian troops protecting the Somali fragile government would be staying in the country until the African peacekeepers are deployed in Somalia.
Speaking to journalists in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Prime Minister Gedi stressed that his government was committed to combating terrorism.
Speaking about the recent US air strike in his country, he said the US AC 130 gunship had targeted hideouts of terrorist groups. He pointed out the US overt military action in Somalia took place with the consent and coordination of the Somali transitional government.
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