Medeshi
Uganda mulls exiting Somalia
Uganda mulls exiting Somalia
Sat, 03 Jan 2009
Uganda has warned that it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia, as insurgents appeared to begin seizing territory.
"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem said on Saturday.
Uganda has demanded a UN peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops, but UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has rejected the calls, saying there is "no peace to keep."
Somalia has been embroiled in chaos ever since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
The crisis deepened after the Ethiopian invasion sparked a bloody insurgency that has killed over 10,000 civilians and displaced around 1 million.
Uganda has warned that it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia, as insurgents appeared to begin seizing territory.
"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem said on Saturday.
Uganda has demanded a UN peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops, but UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has rejected the calls, saying there is "no peace to keep."
Somalia has been embroiled in chaos ever since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
The crisis deepened after the Ethiopian invasion sparked a bloody insurgency that has killed over 10,000 civilians and displaced around 1 million.
Somali fighters fill Ethiopia vacuum
Jan 03, 2009
Fighters from different opposition factions in Somalia have begun expanding their territories as Ethiopia quits the violence-hit country.
On Saturday, Gunmen affiliated with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) as well as others with alleged links to the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) started armed operations in different parts of the Somali capital, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The UIC gunmen seized the Mogadishu bases recently vacated by the Ethiopian soldiers. The soldiers had intervened in 2006 to support the country's trouble-ridden caretaker government.
The Ethiopian entry was hoped to cure the perennial instability in the country which has done without a functioning government since 1991.
The UIC, in the saddle at the time, were ousted by the Ethiopians. They, however, have managed to seize control of most of Somalia struggling ever since to push the Ethiopians back.
Mostly as a result of their opposition, the government's span of control has also been restricted to some parts of Mogadishu and Baidoa, the seat of the Somali parliament.
"Our mission is not to fight anyone or begin a new round of fighting but to restore peace as we did in 6 months of 2006," the spokesman for the oppositionists, Abdi Rahim Isse Addow was reported as saying.
"Our troops are right now in control of three strategic military bases vacated by Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu," he added.
Amid the escalation of attacks on the Ethiopians and the growth of the soldiers' unpopularity among the Somali public, the country's leadership and the ARS strongmen voted for their withdrawal during Djibouti peace talks.
Other armed men, believed to be associated with the ARS, also reportedly took control of 9 outposts in Hodon and Howlwadaag districts south of the capital.
Joint Somali security forces are supposed to fill the power vacuum. Ethiopians, though, recently disarmed and demobilized many government soldiers fearing they would join the resistant groups.
On Saturday, Gunmen affiliated with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) as well as others with alleged links to the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) started armed operations in different parts of the Somali capital, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The UIC gunmen seized the Mogadishu bases recently vacated by the Ethiopian soldiers. The soldiers had intervened in 2006 to support the country's trouble-ridden caretaker government.
The Ethiopian entry was hoped to cure the perennial instability in the country which has done without a functioning government since 1991.
The UIC, in the saddle at the time, were ousted by the Ethiopians. They, however, have managed to seize control of most of Somalia struggling ever since to push the Ethiopians back.
Mostly as a result of their opposition, the government's span of control has also been restricted to some parts of Mogadishu and Baidoa, the seat of the Somali parliament.
"Our mission is not to fight anyone or begin a new round of fighting but to restore peace as we did in 6 months of 2006," the spokesman for the oppositionists, Abdi Rahim Isse Addow was reported as saying.
"Our troops are right now in control of three strategic military bases vacated by Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu," he added.
Amid the escalation of attacks on the Ethiopians and the growth of the soldiers' unpopularity among the Somali public, the country's leadership and the ARS strongmen voted for their withdrawal during Djibouti peace talks.
Other armed men, believed to be associated with the ARS, also reportedly took control of 9 outposts in Hodon and Howlwadaag districts south of the capital.
Joint Somali security forces are supposed to fill the power vacuum. Ethiopians, though, recently disarmed and demobilized many government soldiers fearing they would join the resistant groups.
