Ethiopian troops not occupiers -- Somali president
Source: Reuters
DUBAI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Ethiopian troops who helped rout the Islamists in Somalia are not an occupation force and will leave as soon as peacekeepers begin deploying, the Somali president said in remarks published on Tuesday. Ethiopian forces "did not come to occupy Somalia and they will leave Somali territories as soon as regional and international forces start to deploy", the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted Abdullahi Yusuf as saying by telephone from Mogadishu. Yusuf entered the Somali capital on Monday, capping a remarkable turn-around in the capital Islamists ruled for six months until they were ousted before the New Year. As Yusuf entered the city for the first time since taking office in 2004, protected by his soldiers and Ethiopian troops, he ruled out talks with his foes. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi last week told Qatar-based Al Jazeera television his troops would leave Somalia within two weeks, while an African peacekeeping force is being cobbled together to fill the anticipated vacuum in security, which the Somali government admits it cannot handle on its own. Ethiopian state television had said that Zenawi and Yusuf agreed at a meeting in Addis Ababa on Saturday that Ethiopia would train Somali troops. In Addis Ababa, the African Union's Peace and Security Council on Monday agreed to increase the number of troops to be deployed to Somalia from a proposed 8,000-strong force and an official said the AU would meet again to decide how many. Yusuf told Asharq al-Awsat that he intends to stay in Mogadishu for some time to hold consultations with Somali community and tribal leaders on the future of the country. Mogadishu is the official capital of Somalia, but the government had been unable to install itself there first because of warlords in the government who opposed giving up their turf, and later because of the Islamists. Ethiopian troops last week troops exchanged fire with Somali protesters in Mogadishu and witnesses said three people were killed, as hundreds of Somalis demonstrated against the foreign forces and a government disarmament drive.
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