From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Sep 22 2008 - 08:23:09 EDT
Ethiopian troops postpone leaving Somalia
Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:09:43 GMT
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi says that his country's troops will continue to stay in Somalia until their objectives are met.
The idea of withdrawing troops out of Somalia while its transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed counts on our support is totally unacceptable. Yusuf Ahmad is a friend of ours and we will not leave him alone, the Ethiopian premier told local journalists in Addis Ababa on Sunday.
Zanawi's remarks came as he had earlier vowed to pull Ethiopian's forces out of conflict-stricken Somalia at the very earliest.
It is also noteworthy that the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and Al-Shabab fighters have gained control of roughly 95% of the Horn of Africa country.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia has been accused of deliberately underestimating the scale of a deadly drought facing millions of its people, some of whom are being deprived of emergency food aid by the country's military. The humanitarian crisis caused by three years of failed rains, currently affects about 4.6 million people, though the official number could jump to as high as 6.7 million this week.
United Nations agencies say that the real number at risk is above 8 million, an estimate disputed hotly by Addis Ababa, which is insisting on publishing a much lower figure.
Ethiopian troops come under relentless attacks and their military vehicles are set ablaze every day, all of which indicate their inability to defeat anti-Ethiopian forces.
Somali President's trip to UN blocked
Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:29:59 GMT
Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has been barred from leaving the country to attend the 63rd UN General Assembly in New York.
Al-Shabab fighters blocked the road from Villa Somalia - the presidential palace of Somalia - to Mogadishu International Airport, preventing Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and his former minister of foreign affairs Ali Jama Jangali from boarding the plane to New York, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday.
The report added that the president and his former foreign minister are currently entrapped in Villa Somalia amid threats of mine blasts and assaults that normally target Somali government officials.
The anti-peace group, Al-Shabab have cancelled my trip to New York and the government troops do not have the upper hand to flush them out of the area, a statement released by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed's office said.
Over 130 heads of state and government representatives are expected to attend the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly.
This year, the General Assembly will focus on the maintenance of peace and security, promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development, promotion of human rights, promotion of justice and international law, disarmament, combating international terrorism, crime prevention and drug control.
Female Somali official assassinated
Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:04:55 GMT
Masked gunmen stand behind Somali soldiers
Unknown gunmen, covering their faces with masks, have shot dead a female Somali official and two of her bodyguards north of Mogadishu.
The identity of the official, a former member of the local administration in the Somali capital, is yet to be released, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The incident was the latest in a series of fatal attacks on Somali government officials and aid workers.
Two weeks ago, Sheikh Mohamed Matukade, the Chairman of the Supreme Court for the Bay and Bakool in Somalia's Baidoa region was killed by unknown gunmen.
This is while 21 aid-related workers have been killed since the beginning of 2008 in war-stricken Somalia, the poorest country in the Horn of Africa.
The Somalia government blames the killings on what he calls 'al-Qaeda linked radical rebel groups'.
Insurgent leaders, on the other hand, claim that government hardliners are masterminding the attacks in an attempt to press the international community into sending more UN peacekeeping forces.
The spate of kidnappings and killings in Somalia has hampered the work of aid agencies in the most-affected nation in the Horn of Africa country, where the UN says one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes is unfolding.
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