Le truppe etiopi hanno iniziato a ritirarsi dopo due anni
● Iniziato il ritiro delle truppe etiopi da Mogadishu, nonostante il rischio di un vuoto di sicurezza;
– le forze islamiste moderate hanno inviato le proprie forze nell’area per difendere la capitale, la forza dell’Unione Africana non ha fondi a sufficienza ed è mal equipaggiata (34000 uomini in campo contro gli 8000 attesi).
– L’Etiopia ha invaso la Somalia a fine 2006, su richiesta di un governo ad interim sostenuto dagli USA, che al tempo controllava una ristretta area al confine con il Kenia.
– Grazie agli attacchi aerei e navali americani è stata estromessa dal governo l’amministrazione de facto islamista, la Union[e] of Islamic Courts (UIC), che, aveva governato per sei mesi, imponendo la legge della Sharia.
o i falchi del movimento Al-Shebab hanno ripreso di fatto tutte le aree perse ad inizio 2007.
o Gli islamisti moderati hanno firmato un accordo con il governo di transizione – con la mediazione ONU – per il ritiro graduale delle truppe etiopi, una condivisione del potere e un cessate il fuoco.
– Scontri tra il primo ministro ad interim Nur Hassan Hussein e il presidente Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, che si è dimesso; a fine gennaio ci saranno elezioni per un nuovo presidente;
continuano gli scontri tra il gruppo Al-Shebaab e le forze del governo di transizione, che hanno solo un limitato controllo nella capitale e a Baidoa, sede del parlamento.
Ethiopian troops began withdrawing after two years
– Ethiopian troops began withdrawing from the flashpoint Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, despite concerns the move will create a security vacuum in a country in the throes of an Islamist insurgency. Ethiopian troops abandoned two bases overnight in the Yakshid district in the north of Mogadishu, according to local residents who flocked in their hundreds to see the empty camps.
– Moderate Islamists who signed a deal with the transitional government immediately sent their forces into the area to ensure security in the capital.
"The Ethiopian forces withdrew from key positions in northern Mogadishu overnight and our fighters took control of the areas in order to avoid a power vacuum," added Sheikh Hassan Osman, an Islamist official.
Ethiopia began withdrawing its forces from its war-wracked Horn of Africa neighbor at the beginning of January, pledging not to leave a security vacuum, but Tuesday’s was the first withdrawal from the vulnerable capital itself.
– But concerns over security remain, given the limited means of an ill-equipped and under-funded African Union[e] peacekeeping force in the teeth of an insurgency by the remnants of an Islamist government.
– Ethiopia invaded Somalia in late 2006 at the behest of the Somali interim government, a UN-backed body formed in exile that, at the time, only controlled a small area along the Kenyan border.
– The combined forces, backed by US air strikes and naval gunfire, ousted from government a de facto Islamist administration that had ruled for six months.
– The Union[e] of Islamic Courts had brought the first semblance of rule in years to large swathes of the country in the form of Sharia law. The group splintered after being pushed from power, with the hardline Al-Shebaab movement leading an insurgency that has retaken virtually all areas lost in early 2007.
The AU force is expected to eventually number 8,000 soldiers but currently comprises only 3,400 troops from Uganda and Burundi.
Farah Abdi Warsame, a resident said: "It is a happy day today to see the area for the first time in two years without the Ethiopian forces. We hope the rest will leave the country."
The United Nations’ top envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, urged hardline Islamists who had pegged their participation in peace talks on the Ethiopian withdrawal to end the fighting.
"Today the Ethiopians have respected their commitment," Ould-Abdallah said in a statement. "The ball is now in the court of the Somalis, particularly those who said they were only fighting against the Ethiopian forces, to stop the senseless killings and violence."
– Moderate Islamists had signed a deal with the transitional government for a gradual withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, a power-sharing and a ceasefire agreement under UN-mediated talks.
Interim Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein praised the Ethiopian forces.
"We congratulate them for the good work they did. We also congratulate them for implementing the peace agreement. They have already withdrawn from the camps and the rest will be leaving," he told reporters.
– Security fears worsened in Somalia last month when Hussein’s protracted power struggles with President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad ended with the president’s resignation. Parliament is to elect a new president by the end of January.
Clashes have continued between the Al-Shebaab group and interim government forces, which have a tenuous control over only the capital and the central town of Baidoa, which hosts the Parliament.
On Monday, at least 10 civilians died in and several wounded in clashes between interim government forces and Islamist rebels in Mogadishu.
– The Horn of Africa country has lacked an effective central government since the 1991 ouster of President Mohammad Siad Barre sparked a series of bloody power struggles. – AFP, with The Daily Star