|
'Somalis can solve problems'
13/12/2007 21:05 - (SA)
Mogadishu - Leaders from Somalia's top clan said on Thursday that Ethiopian troops had to leave Somalia for the country's ailing transitional institutions to garner any legitimacy and a political solution to emerge.
Hawiye elders said the presence in Somalia of the US-backed Ethiopian government's troops would continue fuelling violence that had already killed thousands and displaced close to a million in recent months.
On Thursday alone, 13 civilians were killed in Mogadishu, including 11 when two mortar shells smashed into a market area.
Abdulaye Hassan, a Hawiye spokesperson said: "The problem of Somalia can only be solved by Somalis. We have to have talks with the TFG (transitional federal government), the group of Asmara (opposition) and find a solution the Somali way.
Militia took control
"That is possible only if the Ethiopians leave," he added.
The Hawiye clan is the largest in Somalia and is dominant in the capital Mogadishu, although some divisions exist amongst its numerous sub-clans.
Ethiopian troops, with the United States' blessing, came to the rescue of the transitional government's embattled forces in late 2006 after an Islamist militia took control of large parts of the country.
The Islamists, accused by Washington of ties to al-Qaeda, were swiftly defeated but have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, carrying out daily attacks in Mogadishu.
Hassan condemned what he said were systematic arrests of Hawiye clan members who speak out against the TFG.
"We are sleeping in a different house every night because the TFG is after us."
The government and allied foreign mediators have so far not engaged in serious consultations with an opposition movement formed in Asmara in September.
The group, which calls itself the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, is led by key political figures from the country's short-lived Islamist rule and is hosted by Eritrea, which faces growing international isolation.
|
News
