Friday, August 29, 2008
"We welcome Ethiopian Prime Minister's admission that he cannot rule Somalia and we will continue fighting his troops until the last soldier leaves Somali border," Abdurahim Isse Adow, spokesman for the Union of Islamic Courts, told Xinhua by phone.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Thursday suggested in an interview with the Financial Times that Ethiopia would withdraw its forces from Somalia, saying Ethiopia's military commitment to the war-torn Horn of Africa country was "not open-ended".
Ethiopia send thousands of its troops to Somalia in late 2006 to oust the Union of Islamic Courts that it deemed a threat to its national security and to help the Somali transitional government establish in the capital.
Ethiopian troops backing Somali government troops succeeded in toppling the Islamist movement within weeks but deadly insurgent ensued within months and continued on a daily bases ever since.
The statement by the Ethiopian prime minister came a day after authorities in Addis Ababa managed to narrow a growing conflict between Somali President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.
The civil war in the country has resulted in a serious humanitarian disaster. UN agencies has warned this week that more than 3 million Somalis, about half the country's population, will be totally dependent of food aid and emergency assistance over the next 12 months.
Source: Xinhua, Aug 29, 2008