From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Aug 31 2009 - 15:02:29 EDT
Ethiopian Troops Reported to Leave Somali Town By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
*31 August 2009*
Residents in the Somali town of Beledweyne are reporting that Ethiopian
soldiers, who had apparently seized the town two days earlier, have
partially withdrawn from the formerly rebel-held western part of town.
Ethiopia's alleged military action on Saturday has been condemned by
influential clan elders.
Somalia's Shabelle Radio says residents in Beledweyne, near the Ethiopian
border in the Hiran region, saw a large number of Ethiopian troops
withdrawing from the western side of town.
It was not immediately clear why the troops withdrew. But the report comes
just two days after hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers allegedly crossed over
the border and joined other Ethiopian troops deployed inside the
government-controlled east side of Beledweyne.
Residents say the Ethiopians chased out Islamist insurgents from western
Beledweyne early Saturday and seized the entire town.
Western Beledweyne is divided from the east by a river. The
fiercely-contested area had been under the control of hard-line Islamist
groups since Ethiopia ended its two-year occupation of Somalia in January.
[image: A young member of an Islamic militia group leads the way with
other fighters as they patrol in southern Mogadishu, 19 Aug 2009] A young
member of an Islamic militia group leads the way with other fighters as they
patrol in southern Mogadishu, 19 Aug 2009The two main hard-line insurgents
groups, Hisbul Islam and its al-Qaida-linked ally al-Shabab, also control
many other key towns in southern Somalia.
In late July, Somali government forces launched a successful offensive to
take full control of Beledweyne. But less than three weeks later, Somalia's
hard-line Islamist group, Hisbul Islam, re-took western Beledweyne, dealing
a blow to Ethiopia's hopes of keeping the strategically important border
town out of insurgent hands.
The government in Addis Ababa denies any of its troops are actively engaged
inside Somalia. And the Somali military commander in Beledweyne says only
Somali forces are in town.
But U.S.-based Horn of Africa commentator and observer Michael Weinstein
says Ethiopia is believed to be receiving tacit approval from Washington to
provide militarily support to government and pro-government militias
fighting to oust Hisbul Islam and al-Shabab from various Somali regions.
The United States previously backed Ethiopia's military intervention in
Somalia in 2006, which ousted the Islamic Courts Union from power, but gave
rise to Somalia's bloody insurgency.
"The U.S. is backing a strategy to have Ethiopians come in [to Somalia] and
not fight alongside these militias, but to accompany them, give them
logistical help, man checkpoints, and do arm searches," said Weinstein. "And
this is a response to the frustration over the stand-off in Mogadishu -
trying to have another track to displace the opposition."
Since early May, al-Shabab and Hisbul Islam have been trying to topple the
U.N.-backed government in Mogadishu. But their attempts have been blocked,
mostly by the presence of 5,000 African Union peacekeepers in the capital.
The four-month conflict has deepened Somalia's humanitarian crisis, which
was already one of the worst in the world with millions displaced and in
dire need of food aid and other assistance.
On Sunday, the spokesman of the influential Hawiye clan elders, Abdirisaq
Sheik Mohamed, warned that inviting Ethiopian troops to conduct operations
inside Somalia would badly discredit the government of Islamist President
Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
The clan elder says if the Somali government is seeking help from Ethiopian
forces to stay in power, then there is no difference between this government
and the previous Ethiopia-backed government of Abdullahi Yusuf.
President Sharif is a former Islamic Courts Union leader, who had fought
against Yusuf and the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia.
President Yusuf resigned and Sheik Sharif joined the government last year,
under a U.N.-sponsored peace deal that brought more Islamists into the
government. Hard-line groups were not impressed and dismissed President
Sharif and his government as western puppets.
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