Somali president in Ethiopia to discuss security situation
Oct 16, 2006 (BAIDOA) — Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf is visiting Ethiopia, a senior official said Monday, a day after residents in a southern Somalia town said they saw Ethiopian troops alongside Somali government forces enter their town.
Ethiopia, a key ally of Yusuf, has denied its troops entered the southern Somalia town of Dinsor or that its troops have been in Somalia in recent months – though witnesses have seen the Ethiopians, and U.N. and regional diplomats have confirmed their presence.
Islamic radicals who have virtually sidelined Yusuf’s government oppose intervention by Ethiopia, Somalia’s historic rival.
Yusuf arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, over the weekend, the Ethiopian government official said, declining to say more.
On Sunday, well-armed troops aboard seven trucks mounted with machine guns arrived in the agricultural town of Dinsor, telling residents to remain calm and that the government was in control of the area, witnesses said. The forces then left, residents told The Associated Press.
On Oct. 9, witnesses said hundreds of Ethiopian and government troops forced Islamic fighters to abandon Bur Haqaba, a strategic hilltop town. They said the forces later withdrew. Both pro-government militia and fighters loyal to Islamic radicals have been positioning themselves in recent days amid fears of a major encounter, after a series of small skirmishes.
They clashed in a strategic seaport on Friday, hours after a smaller skirmish near Bu’aale, some 350 kilometers south of Baidoa, the only town controlled by the government.
Islamic forces have based themselves in Bu’aale while the government’s defense minister, Col. Barre “Hirale” Aden Shire, is encamped at Sakow, 55 kilometers away, residents say.
Dinsor is 125 kilometers from Bu’aale, an important military town because it straddles a vital bridge linking Baidoa to southern Somalia and the key port of Kismayo. Shire’s forces have vowed to recapture the port after losing control to Islamic militia on Sept. 23.
(AP)