by Mustafa Haji Abdinur
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
At the same time, a US-backed panel, the International Contact Group on Somalia, met in Cairo to discuss the latest flare-up of violence that has raised the stakes in the Somali conflict.
Four days of heavy battles in the Somali capital that began Thursday left hundreds dead, according to residents, and forced thousands to flee, after an Ethiopian offensive on clan fighters and Islamist rebels.
Ethiopian reinforcements arrived in Mogadishu on Monday despite Addis Ababa's claim that it is withdrawing from Somalia.
Elders from the capital's dominant Hawiye clan said they had formed an 11-man committee to talk with Ethiopian commanders, after previosu efforts at a truce failed.
Mogadishu residents said they feared fresh clashes on Tuesday as Ethiopian and Somali troops faced off with insurgents in southern Mogadishu, the scene of the fiercest fighting.
"We see insurgents making reinforcements and Ethiopian troops still holding their positions," local resident Sabumo Haji Mumin told AFP.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian troops patrolled southern neighbourhoods, including Al Kamin, where four civilians were shot by Ethiopian troops the previous day.
Residents said they were still afraid to go outside.
"The Ethiopian forces are opening fire at anybody who approaches them. Nobody can go close to them," said resident Sheikh Dahir Ali. "There is not even a chance to bury the dead, let alone other things."
The Somali government told residents to leave the southern districts.
"It is very risky for the people of Mogadishu to stay in the area under military operations," said government spokesman Hussein Mohamed Mohamud.
In a climate of muted foreign reaction to Somalia's worsening crisis, a diplomat at an international meeting on Somalia in Cairo said Ethiopian troops had to leave.
"It is clear that the Ethiopian presence in Somalia is not sustainable and the ground has to be prepared for their withdrawal," said Norwegian State Secretary Raymond Johansen.
Diplomats from the United States, Europe and Africa called for immediate action to restore security and stability in Somalia at the meeting of the contact group, formed last June.
An unknown number of Ethiopian forces were used to help the Somali transitional government drive Islamist fighters with alleged links to the Al-Qaeda network out of south and central Somalia some three months ago.
Ethiopia says it has withdrawn two-thirds of its troops and will finish the pullout in consultation with the African Union, which has deployed some 1,500 Ugandan peacekeepers there.
The United Nations estimates that around 100,000 people have fled escalating violence in Mogadishu city since February, including nearly half of those in the past 10 days.
The government is struggling to pacify Mogadishu ahead of a National Reconciliation Conference, planned to start April 16, despite threats of disruption by hardline Islamists.
Souce: AFP, April 03, 2007