Garowe Online (Garowe)
2 February 2008
Garowe — Somali insurgents waging war on the country's transitional federal government are responsible for the continued presence of the Ethiopian army in the country, the parliament Speaker said today.
Speaker Sheikh Adan "Madobe" Mohamed told a press conference in the south-central town of Baidoa on Saturday that Ethiopian troops will remain inside Somalia as long as insurgents continue to attack the government and its Ethiopian military allies.
"If we return peace to our country [Somalia] and uphold the law, then Ethiopian troops or other foreign troops will not be in our country," Speaker Madobe said.
He condemned insurgents who conduct near-daily attacks on the positions of Somali and Ethiopian government troops, and assassinate government officials in targeted killings.
"The so-called 'anti-government group'...I don't believe this [anti-government] is their intention, but they are the group who want to keep Ethiopian troops in our country [Somalia]," he said.
He pointed to the insurgents' ceaseless attacks as evidence that the insurgents want to keep foreign troops inside Somalia.
Speaker Madobe said the federal government is "running out of patience" with insurgent attacks, most recently inside parts of Bay region, where the parliament base Baidoa is located.
He advised the government's political opposition to join the road to peaceful negotiation, but if these groups refuse peace, then the government "will fight them [opposition]."
Political analysts said these public comments on Ethiopian troops are the toughest words from Speaker Madobe, who assumed parliamentary leadership one year ago.
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allAfrica.com 15 December 2003 Posted to the web 15 December 2003
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