Ethiopian troops out of Somalia

LUUQ gedo(jubbaland state)-Thousands of Ethiopian troops with a lot of military trucks and tanks crossed the border out of Somalia on Wednesday The Ethiopian troops completely departed from the Somali capital Mogadishu on 15 January 2009, but pulled back to Baidoa where radical Islamists took control of it after the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.The Ethiopian troops accompanied by some Somali MPs and the former Mogadishu mayor Mohamed Omar Habeeb known as Mohamed Dheere reached in the border town of Luuq in southwestern Somalia yesterday. Residents say the Ethiopian troops crossed the border between Somalia and Ethiopia.Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, ruled out Tuesday the return of Ethiopian troops to Somalia and accused al-Shabaab of using Ethiopia's presence in Somalia as a pretext for a campaign of violence that has left an estimated 16,000 people dead.
Ethiopia rejects returning to Somalia despite Islamists' comeback
ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopia on Tuesday ruled out sending its troops back to Somalia after hardline Islamists took over Baidoa, the seat of the country's parliament, following Addis Ababa's pull-out at the weekend. Ethiopia's Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, accused al-Shabab of using Ethiopia's presence in Somalia as a pretext for a campaign of violence that has left an estimated 16,000 people dead."Now that Ethiopian troops are completely out of Somalia, so they have a different a different agenda, leading Somalia to the verge of fragmentation. And they are leading Somalia down the drain. They must not be allowed to lead Somalia into that disaster," he said.
At the same time, the foreign minister emphasized that Ethiopia has no intention of returning to Somalia after failing to bring stability to a country that has been without a functioning government since 1991."I don't think Ethiopian troops are ready again to step into Somalia. That is ruled out. But we will do everything by strengthening AMISOM [the African Union Mission to Somalia] and the Somali institutions to fight anarchy and these terrorist acts inside their country," he said.Earlier in the day, Africa's top diplomat, African Union Commission chief Jean Ping spoke confidently of adding Ugandan and Nigerian battalions to the AU's 3,500-strong peacekeeping mission in Somalia. AMISOM is working alongside 10,000 Somali security service personnel. But the combined force controls little more than a section of the capital, Mogadishu.
Ping shrugged off the fall of Baidoa to al-Shabab, saying it had been expected. He described security conditions as "less serious" than expected.--Agencies