Islamist-dominated Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia is Hopeful That the Occupying Ethiopian Forces Will Withdraw From Somalia As Soon As Possible

The Islamist-dominated Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia which last month signed a peace document with the country’s western-backed Transitional Federal Government on Friday said it is very hopeful that the occupying Ethiopian forces will withdraw from Somalia as soon as possible.

The information secretary for the Djibouti-based Alliance Sheikh Ahmed Abdullahi said on Friday during an interview with the local media that his group has no doubt that the Ethiopian government will implement the peace accord and will pull its troops out of Somalia as it has already pledged.

As the signed peace document highlights the Ethiopian forces were due to move from some bases in Mogadishu including the Chinese-built stadium in Mogadishu and others to pave the way for a complete withdrawal, but that has not yet been done, because of unidentified reasons.

On Thursday, the Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein for his part said that the Ethiopian troops in Somalia will pull out under the peace agreement signed in Djibouti last month.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopian forces entered the Somali capital late in 2006 after helping Somalia’s weak transitional government to topple the Union of Somali Islamic courts which controlled south-central Somali regions in the second half of 2006.

Since then however, insurgent attacks in the capital alone has killed more than 10,000 people, mainly civilians.

Source African Press Agency

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