Ethiopian FM in Sudan to urge African troops

Jan 4, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Ethiopian foreign minister said that African peacekeepers are urgently needed in Somalia, saying that Ethiopian troops entered in Somalia in self defence.

Ethiopian foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin was received today in Khartoum by the Sudanese seconde Vice –President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha to whom he delivered a message from the Prime Minister Meles Zinawi to the Sudanese president on the deployment of Ethiopian troops in Somalia.

The minister who was coming from Cairo in a tour to Arab states, said Ethiopia entered Somalia in self defence and that it would pull out as early as possible but warned against leaving any vacuum that would return the situation in Somalia to where it used to be in the past.

Mesfin pointed out following his meetings with Taha that there was urgent need to deploy African Union peacekeepers in Somalia in accordance with the UN Security Council, African Union and IGAD resolutions. In such a way the Somali interim government would be able to stand on its feet and to work for spreading stability and scrutiny there, he added.

He said that the Taha has assured him that Sudan’s position would remain constructive and in line with policies of the IGAD organization and IGAD countries.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had promised U.S. President George Bush in a recent phone call that he could supply between 1,000-2,000 troops to protect Somalia’s transitional government and train its troops, Jendayi Frazer, assistant U.S. secretary of state for Africa, added in comments to journalists after meeting Museveni.

“The solution here is dialogue and reconciliation … the peacekeeping force would just be there to stabilize the situation,” Frazer said.

Ugandan officials have said they need help paying for the peacekeeping operation and a clear exit strategy. A U.N. peacekeeping force including American troops met disaster in Somalia in 1992, when fighters loyal to a clan leader shot down a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and battled U.S. troops, killing 18. The U.S. left soon afterward and the U.N. scaled down.

The Somalia Islamic Courts Council, which had taken control of large parts of the country including Mogadishu in recent months, has been driven from its strongholds by government troops and Ethiopian forces.

Somalia has been without effective central government since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was driven from power.

(ST)