VARIOUS: Ethiopian troops advance on Mogadishu as African Union and U.N. call for an end to the fighting.

Record ID: 375386

  • Title: VARIOUS: Ethiopian troops advance on Mogadishu as African Union and U.N. call for an end to the fighting.
  • Date: 28th December 2006
  • Summary: CIVILIANS RUNNING FOR COVER
  • Embargoed: 12th January 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAECT2M785M0EUJYOIH7BSVG06O
  • Story Text: Militias allied to the Somali government captured several key buildings including the former presidential palace in Mogadishu on Thursday (December 28), a spokesman for the Somali National Alliance (SNA) faction said.
    "We have taken over Villa Somalia," Abukar Osman Sheikh told Reuters. "Now the Islamists have left Mogadishu, we rightfully took over all the places we used to control including the presidential palace."
    The SNA belongs to former faction leader Hussein Mohamed Aideed, now interior minister and deputy prime minister in the government.
    The move came as residents reported an upsurge in violence in Mogadishu, with looting, gunfire and checkpoints erected after their former Islamist leaders deserted the city.
    Earlier on Wednesday (December 27), pro-government forces seized the key southern town of Jowhar from their Islamist rivals before taking Balad, just 30 km (18 miles) north of Mogadishu.
    Many residents left their houses to cheer the victors, backed by Ethiopian tanks, who pursued the retreating Islamists as sporadic gunfire echoed in the air.
    A week of mortar duels between Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed secular government has spiralled into open war that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa.
    In Addis Ababa, a hastily convened session of the African Union (AU) demanded on Wednesday (December 27) all foreign players, including Ethiopia, immediately withdraw their forces from Somalia.
    Somalia's representative to Ethiopia said Somali government forces would besiege Mogadishu rather than attack it.
    "Now, my government will continue to reach Mogadishu at the best possible way without casualties, without fight," Somali Ambassador Abdikarin Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa.
    The U.N. Security Council failed on Wednesday (December 27) for a second day to agree on a statement calling for a quick end to the war in Somalia after Qatar again insisted it also urge Ethiopian troops to leave. The 15-nation council remained split 14 to one against the Qatari position, as it had been on Tuesday, so further deliberations were called off with no expectation they would resume any time soon.
    Outgoing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said many organisations, including the U.N. Security Council, the African Union and east Africa's regional body IGAD were struggling to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
    "And as you know IGAD (=Inter Governmental Authority on Development) has indicated that they would want to deploy troops to Somalia, I'm not sure they will be able to do it in the current climate. But they have also appealed, which I have also done myself, for the parties to go back to the table, which they have started in Khartoum, and try and resolve their differences through dialogue and seek reconciliation. And I would also appeal to neighbouring countries to stay out of the crisis in Somalia, and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia."
    He called on foreign troops, including Ethiopian troops, to stay out of the conflict.
    "I've already spoken to the President of Ethiopia about that, and it is essential that neighbouring governments stay out of this."
    Ethiopia has proved more than a match for the Islamist fighters, who are driven by religious fervour but lack the MiG fighter jets and long experience of one of Africa's most effective armies.
    The Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) has depicted the conflict with Christian-led Ethiopia as a holy war against "crusaders", tapping into popular anti-Ethiopian sentiment after decades of rivalry between the two neighbours.
    Ethiopia has portrayed it as a war against al Qaeda-linked terrorists, winning tacit support from Washington, which believes Islamic militants are hiding in Somalia.
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