by Emmanuel Goujon

Nairobi, December 14, 2007 - Ethiopian troops must leave Somalia for the country's ailing transitional institutions to garner any legitimacy and a political solution to emerge, leaders from Somalia's top clan said Thursday.

The presence in Somalia of the US-backed Ethiopian regime's troops will continue fueling violence that has already killed thousands and displaced close to a million in recent months, Hawiye elders said.

On Thursday alone, 13 civilians were killed in Mogadishu, including 11 when two mortar shells smashed into a market area.

"The problem of Somalia can only be solved by Somalis, we have to meet with the TFG (transitional federal government), the group of Asmara (opposition) and find a solution the Somali way," said Abdulaye Hassan, a Hawiye spokesman.

"That is possible only if the Ethiopians leave," he added.

The Hawiye clan is the largest in Somalia and is dominant in the capital Mogadishu, although some divisions exist amongst its numerous sub-clans.

Ethiopian troops, with the United States' blessing, came to the rescue of the transitional government's embattled forces in late 2006 after an Islamist militia took control of large parts of the country.

The Islamists, accused by Washington of ties to Al-Qaeda, were swiftly defeated but have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, carrying out daily attacks in Mogadishu.

Hassan condemned what he said were systematic arrests of Hawiye clan members who speak out against the TFG.

"We are sleeping in a different house every night because the TFG is after us," he said.

Sirraj Sheikh Hassan, another Hawiye representative, insisted his clan -- frequently accused of supporting radical Islamic insurgents -- was not seeking confrontation.

"We are not armed people but elders who are not happy with the Ethiopian presence. We are fighting them verbally," he told AFP in Mogadishu.

"The main conflict is now between the group of Asmara and the TFG. It can only be solved if the Ethiopians leave. There is no other solution than negotiation," he added.

The government and allied foreign mediators have so far not engaged in serious consultations with an opposition movement formed in Asmara in September.

The group, which calls itself the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, is led by key political figures from the country's short-lived Islamist rule and is hosted by Eritrea, which faces growing international isolation.

The Hawiye say they feel alienated from the country's centre of power. Although the new prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, is one of theirs, the nation's strongman remains more than ever President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

Yusuf is from the Darod clan, the country's second-largest, and cracks have formed along clanic lines in the fragile government.

Somalia is a mainly Muslim country, while Ethiopia has a majority Christian population. Many Somalis resent what they see as a Christian crusade on their territory, but the government needs Ethiopia to ensure it retains even a tenuous grip on power.

"The Ethiopians have been invited by the legitimate government of Somalia, that is the TFG, to restore peace, law and order in Somalia. So no other authority can ask them to leave," said Interior Minister Mohamed Mahmud Guled.

"The so-called Hawiye representatives don't represent the Hawiye people and they are not in a position to stop the fighting because the Shebab (the Islamist movement's armed wing) are not under their authority," he added.

Addis Ababa has said it wants to pull out as soon as possible but argues that this cannot be done before a robust international peacekeeping force is deployed.

In the meantime, violence continues to make Mogadishu one of the most dangerous capitals in the world and aggravate an already dire humanitarian situation.

"The insurgents are standing against the new colonisation of Somalia by Ethiopians. Once the Ethiopians pull out, there will be no more fighting," said Nur Jamah Karshe, another Hawiye elder.

Source: AFP