ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia on Thursday reaffirmed its support for the weak Somali government facing political upheavals and an insurgency in the capital Mogadishu, partly because Ethiopian troops are deployed there.
Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said Addis Ababa, which has thousands of troops backing Somalia's government, will help restore stability in its neighbour, days after Ali Mohamed Gedi resigned as Somali premier amidst a political crisis.
"Ethiopia will continue to support Somalia in achieving lasting peace and stability and also provide everything necessary for it to find a successor to Gedi in a constitutional and legal manner," state TV quoted Seyoum as saying.
The foreign minister had talks with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on Wednesday, two days after Gedi stepped down.
Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of Somalia's embattled transitional government last year and ousted an Islamist movement that briefly controlled large parts of the country.
But Islamist fighters -- accused by Washington of links to Al-Qaeda -- and tribal allies have since waged a guerrilla-style war in Mogadishu, targeting Somali and Ethiopian troops.
The violence has crippled Somalia's ailing economy, left hundreds of civilians dead and forced tens of thousands to flee Mogadishu, prompting growing calls for Ethiopia to leave the country.
The nation of 10 million has lacked an effective
government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre touched
off a conflict that has defied at least a dozen peace initiatives.
SOURCE: AFP, November 2, 2007