MOGADISHU, Dec 29: Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi on Friday said his forces, backed by Ethiopian troops, had curbed the expansion of terrorism in Africa by breaking the back of the country’s powerful militants.
“Most of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) fighters were destroyed by our forces ... the Islamic courts do not exist any more,” Mr Gedi told a press conference after his triumphant return to the capital Mogadishu, a day after militants’ leaders left the city.
The government victory has opened “the path for a new future for us to prevent any attempt of terrorism and to reverse the expansion of terrorism in the whole of Africa”, he said.
Mr Gedi said Ethiopian troops supporting his government, which held only one major town until Addis Ababa launched a week-long offensive on SICC bases, would stay in the country for as long as they are needed.
“The Ethiopian (forces) will stay as long as it is needed by the transitional federal government. The stabilization of Somalia is needed for the stability of our neighbours,” he added.
On Thursday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his soldiers would pull out “hopefully in the next few days, maybe in the next few weeks, but definitely not months”, defying calls from Arab and African nations on his troops to withdraw without delay.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Gedi had entered Mogadishu in a high security convoy, protected by about 100 Ethiopian soldiers, one day after SICC leaders abandoned the city they had controlled for six months.
The prime minister pledged to relocate his government from the south central town of Baidoa to the capital Mogadishu, but did not give a specific date.
Looting and gunbattles had erupted in Mogadishu on Thursday between rival clan-based militias after the militants -- including the movement’s leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- withdrew to their last stronghold in Kismayo port.
Somalia fought wars against Ethiopia in 1964 and in 1977-78 and the presence of foreign troops in the capital is sure to become an increasingly sensitive issue.
The prime minister drove to Mogadishu’s port after making a stopover at the international airport.
People lining the roads waved him on, but there was a big anti-Ethiopian protest in northern Mogadishu, with demonstrators throwing stones, burning tyres and calling for foreign troops to leave the city.
Mr Gedi dismissed the protest as a small-scale incident organised by supporters of Aweys.—AFP
MOGADISHU, Dec 29: Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi on Friday said his forces, backed by Ethiopian troops, had curbed the expansion of terrorism in Africa by breaking the back of the country’s powerful militants.
