Ethiopia pulls troops out of southern Somalia

Jan 17, 2007 (MOGADISHU) — A Somaliland newspaper has published a report which says Ethiopian troops have began pulling out of some areas in southern Somalia.

Haatuf, a Somali-language daily based in Hargeysa, the capital of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, said in its 17 January edition the Ethiopian troops are pulling out of the Jubba regions (southern Somalia) and some districts in southwestern Somalia.

The newspaper said the “unexpected” Ethiopian troop pullout coincided with a brief visit the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, made to Kenya on Tuesday, 16 January.

This report has so far not been confirmed by any other Somali source monitored by BBC Monitoring.

The same report also said President Abdullahi Yusuf left Mogadishu on Tuesday for Addis Ababa where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Meles to discuss the deployment of an African peacekeeping force.

The same item also echoes Kenyan media reports which suggest the top Islamist leader in custody in Kenya is Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad, the chairman of the Executive Council of the Union of Islamic Courts.

(BBCMS)