Second Phase Of Ethiopian Troops Withdrawal Concludes In Somalia: FM

Mogadishu, March 16, 2007 – The second phase of Ethiopian troops' withdrawal from Somalia has concluded, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said on Thursday.

Mesfin arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu Thursday in an unannounced visit and held talks with President Abdillahi Yusuf, other Somali transitional federal government (TFG) officials, clan elders and civil society leaders.

"We discussed with the Somali government the bilateral relations between the two countries. The second phase of the withdrawal of our troops was concluded and the third and final phase will be whenever the TFG is capable of handling the security of the country," Mesfin told reporters at the Mogadishu international airport as he wrapped up his short visit.

The visit of Mesfin comes only two days after unknown gunmen attacked the presidential palace while President Yusuf was inside it and the Mogadishu vice mayor was injured as his convoy exploded in the city, killing two aids.

Presidential spokesman Hussein Mohamed Mahmoud told reporters on Wednesday that the president was unharmed.

"The process of replacing Ethiopian forces by AU peacekeepers is a priority for us," Mesfin told reporters at the airport where Ugandan peacekeepers have taken control from the Ethiopian soldiers who entered Somalia in December last year.

The Somali capital has been the scene of violent attacks which the Somali government blames on remnants of the defeated Islamists who were deposed by Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops late last year.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew late ruler Mohamed Siyad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.

The transitional government was formed in 2004 with UN help, but has little authority across the country.

Source: Xinhua