Somali protest against Ethiopians

[N.O.R.F]

Somali protest against Ethiopians

 

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, in protest at the presence of Ethiopian forces backing the interim government.

Witnesses said Ethiopian troops fired in the air to disperse the crowds, as youths burnt tyres and threw stones.

 

The protests came as the government indefinitely postponed a disarmament programme in the capital.

 

The original deadline for handing in weapons was Thursday but few people have done so.

 

Many Somalians want the Ethiopians to leave

 

Correspondents say the city is awash with weapons, and violence has increased since Ethiopian-led troops ousted Islamist militias.

 

Meanwhile the US has agreed to provide $10m (£5.2m) towards the funding of a proposed 8,000-strong African Union (AU) peacekeeping force for Somalia.

 

The money is part of a total of $40m that the US Government has pledged to support Somalia's efforts to restore stability.

 

Assistant US Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer is expected to visit Mogadishu on Sunday.

 

'No surrender'

 

Residents of the capital came out onto the streets, shouting "Down, down with Ethiopia".

 

 

Location of militias and US Navy patrols

Protesters voiced their opposition to the disarmament programme.

 

"We don't want a one-sided disarmament ... we don't need the Ethiopians, they must leave our country," said Bile Abdi, quoted by AFP news agency.

 

Ethiopia troops: 8,000-15,000

Government troops: 10,000

Islamists: 600 near Kenyan border; 3,500 around Mogadishu

Recently displaced: 30,000

Refugees in Kenya: 160,000

Estimated numbers

 

Several said the programme should cover the whole country, so that all clans throughout the country could be disarmed simultaneously.

 

Ethiopian troops supporting the transitional government ousted Islamist forces less than a week ago.

 

But on Friday, al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri reportedly urged the Islamist militias to fight "crusaders".

 

"I speak to you today as the crusader invader forces of Ethiopia violate the soil of the beloved Muslim Somalia," the five-minute tape, posted on a website used by militants, said.

 

"I call upon the Muslim nation in Somalia to remain in the new battlefield that is one of the crusader battlefields that are being launched by America and its allies and the United Nations against Islam and Muslims."

 

'Rare chance'

 

On Friday, Somali interim President Abdullahi Yusuf called for a "speedy deployment" of peacekeepers in his war-torn country.

 

Speaking at a Nairobi meeting, he said there was a rare chance for a real political breakthrough in Somalia, plagued by violence for 15 years.

 

He said the AU force, agreed by the UN Security Council before the current hostilities, should be deployed as soon as possible.

 

Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has said he wants his forces out of the country in a matter of weeks.

 

Kenya's government has shut its border with Somalia, despite criticism from the United Nations' refugee agency.

 

source