Somalia: Ethiopia transfers Mogadishu bases to a joint force

Jimma Times

Ethiopian troops have handed over most of their bases in Mogadishu to a joint force of Somali government troops and moderate Islamists. According to media reports, Somali government officials organized a farewell ceremony for the departing Ethiopian officials and troops, attended by AMISOM peacekeepers, Somali traditional elders and Islamist opposition groups led by the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.

The around 3,000 Ethiopian force is withdrawing from Somalia after a power sharing agreement in Djibouti was signed between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and opposition Islamists. The al Shabaab hardliners have ignored the deal and continued the fighting which has increasingly shifted into between rival Islamists.

Ethiopain troops commander in Somalia Col. Yohannes Abate said his government hopes for peace in Somalia. Hussein Siyad Qorgad, deputy chairman of a faction of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, said all Somalis need to "come together and make a unity government."

The last two years, the presense of Ethiopians and the Darod clan dominated TFG troops of President Abdullahi Yusuf was very unpopular in the Hawiye clan dominated Southern Somalia, including Mogadishu. Many locals in Mogadishu were celebrating when Ethiopian troops began leaving the town. The recent resignation of Yusuf have Somali analysts fearing the collapse of the TFG military wing, but Western diplomats say it will open political space for Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, of the Hawiye clan, to operate and establish an inclusive government and parliament.

During the farewell ceremony for Ethiopian troops and offiicials, the Somali Prime Minister praised Ethiopian forces for helping the TFG and he said the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops can reduce the support for hardline Islamists who have carried the insurgency for several months. Thousands of civilians have been killed and a million displaced during the fighting. AMISON peacekeepers numbering about 3,500 remain in southern Somalia and the African Union (AU) is planning to send extra troops from Uganda, Burundi and Nigeria. On Monday, the US has also started pushing for a resolution to send a UN force in Somalia to help the AU peacekeepers.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991.

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