SOO MAAL Posted February 14, 2005 AU team to assess Somali security By Martin Plaut BBC News The African Union is sending a fact-finding mission to Somalia on Monday to assess the security situation in the capital, Mogadishu. This follows a request from President Abdullahi Yusuf for a powerful peacekeeping force to allow his Kenya-based government to move there. But suggestions Ethiopian troops will be used have aroused fierce protests. On Friday, thousands rallied in Mogadishu vowing to resist what they see as Ethiopian interference. The African Union's 16-strong team faces an uphill task in Mogadishu. President Yusuf needs outside security if he is to operate safely in the city. He is from the northern region of Puntland and has no ties with the clans controlling the capital. War echoes Worse still, he is seen as close to Ethiopia - not a plus point in Somali politics. No Somali forgets the bitter war for the neighbouring region of the ****** that the country fought with Ethiopia in the 1970s. So when the president suggested last October that he needed a 20,000-strong African Union force before he transferred his administration to Mogadishu, many interpreted this as the president threatening to take power by force. The president even had trouble convincing his own cabinet to back the proposal - something they finally did, with notable abstentions, earlier this month. On Friday, demonstrators in Mogadishu threatened to take up arms if Ethiopian troops set foot on Somali soil. The African Union team have a difficult path to tread if they are to make a success of their current mission. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4262949.stm Published: 2005/02/14 01:16:08 GMT Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SOO MAAL Posted February 14, 2005 Voices against front line states troops from Mogadishu residents February 12, 2005. HornAfrik. Mogadishu, Somalia. The tension in Mogadishu is very high over the reports saying that IGAD is sending peace keeping troops to southern parts of Somalia including front line states. According to our reporter Maxamad Mahamud Halane up to two hundred Somali ex military personnel today met at the centre of the ex revelatory party in Mogadishu and confirmed that they would fight if Ethiopia solders arrived in Mogadishu desorbing them former enemy. Similar voices are coming from the local residents here in Mogadishu and from disabled ex-Somali forces who took part in the 1977 war between Somalia and Ethiopia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabbal Posted February 15, 2005 up to two hundred Somali ex military personnel today met at the centre of the ex revelatory party in Mogadishu and confirmed that they would fight if Ethiopia solders arrived in Mogadishu desorbing them former enemy. My support goes out to them and I hope a lot more from all over the country stand up and join forces with them. Fight the filthy, AIDS-infested, raw meat-eating cannablistic Habeshs who dare to even contemplate going anywhere near Somalia! This is a precendent that must not be allowed to stand. :mad: Our internal affairs shall be controlled by no one save us! Could this be the single act that unifies the nation? I truly hope so. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wind.talker Posted February 15, 2005 Originally posted by SOO MAAL: So far his presidency has been unlike that of any other. His home is on loan from a foreign government, his bodyguards are borrowed from a foreign leader and he is assisted by staff who cannot afford to use their telephones. Yet he is widely seen as the only hope for Somalia. I thought this was a wonderful paragraph. Very detailed and descriptive, yet forever hopeful in its futuristic outlook. Abdullahi Yusuf seen as "the only hope for Somalia." Remains to be seen... Originally posted by HornAfrique: Fight the filthy, AIDS-infested, raw-meat eating cannablistic Habeshs who dare to even contemplate going anywhere near Somalia! This is a precendent that must not be allowed to stand. :mad: Our internal affairs shall be controlled by no one save us! Could this be the single act that unifies the nation? I truly hope so. The answer, I think sxb, is no. You got an entire crew (and they're quite sizeable; in SOL, they're led by General Duke) who'll swear that the only chance of peace for Somalia rests in the hands of foreign troops! So, whatchu got: two opposing groups of people, a group of potential enemy combatants nearby, and the further destruction of Somali lives! I say for once - just once as Somalis - let's agree on something! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
