afrol News, 28 August - Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has announced a possible withdrawal of his troops from Somalia even if transitional government is not stable, saying the operation is costing too much money for Ethiopia.

Mr Zenawi's remarks signal a policy shift because Ethiopia has previously said it will remain in Somalia until the interim government is in control, newspaper reports have revealed.

Ethiopian government sent troops into Somalia at end of 2006 to drive Islamist rebels from capital Mogadishu. However, discord among Somali ministers has increased ever since transitional government was re-installed. The instability of the cabinet has played into the hands of the insurgents, who have continued their attacks.

"Ethiopia has long worried that instability in Somalia and the existence of Somali separatist groups in Ethiopia's Ogaden region only increases the anxiety," he said.

Withdrawal of Ethiopian troops is a key demand of the Al-Shabab, the radical wing of the Islamists who controlled much of Somalia in 2006. Insurgents refused to recognise a recent UN-brokered agreement, interim government has signed with an opposition group including a top Islamist leader. It has demanded that Ethiopian troops leave Somalia before any ceasefire is considered.

Despite Mr Zenawi's apparent impatience with state of play and also squabbles between Somali president and prime minister, he said that Ethiopia would 'hold the ring' until AU could deploy more peacekeepers.

However, he made it clear that Ethiopia was not happy with carrying the burden by itself, with little backing from AU and no backing from the international community.

"We didn't anticipate that the international community would be happy riding the Ethiopian horse and flogging it at the same time for so long," he said.

On Wednesday, Somalia interim government top leaders signed an agreement of cooperation in Addis Ababa to resolve an ongoing division between the two executive leaders.

The rift between two leaders, President Abdullahi Yusuf and Premier Hussein Nur Adde began when Mr yusuf revoked prime minister's decision to fire Mogadishu mayor Mohamed Dheere for allegedly fuelling insecurity in the city.

Since Somali Transitional Federal Government was created in 2004, it has been plagued by internal squabbling. It has also been wrecked by a deadly guerrilla conflict since Ethiopian forces backed government troops in late 2006 to oust an Islamist movement.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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