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| Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia | Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| All Ethiopian troops will leave Somalia by the end of the year, a foreign ministry spokesman has announced. | All Ethiopian troops will leave Somalia by the end of the year, a foreign ministry spokesman has announced. |
| Ethiopia sent thousands of soldiers into Somalia two years ago to help government forces oust Islamists from the capital, Mogadishu. | |
| But their presence has been deeply unpopular with many Somalis. | But their presence has been deeply unpopular with many Somalis. |
| Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf recently admitted that his forces only control parts of the capital and the central town of Baidoa. | Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf recently admitted that his forces only control parts of the capital and the central town of Baidoa. |
| Despite being forced from power in Mogadishu, Islamist forces have rallied and stage frequent attacks against Ethiopian and government soldiers. | Despite being forced from power in Mogadishu, Islamist forces have rallied and stage frequent attacks against Ethiopian and government soldiers. |
| The government is also deeply divided between President Yusuf and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. | |
| 'Proud' | |
| Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Wahide Belay said that the deadline for the pull-out was in a letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping on Tuesday. | Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Wahide Belay said that the deadline for the pull-out was in a letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping on Tuesday. |
| The Ethiopians are at the end of their tether because of the squabbling in the interim government Rashid AbdiSomali analyst "We have done our job and we are proud of it, but the expectations that we had from the international community were never fulfilled. But that said, we will withdraw in a responsible manner," he told the AFP news agency. | |
| The US supported the Ethiopian move into Somalia but calls for UN peacekeepers to be sent have never materialised. | |
| The Ethiopian withdrawal was also part of a peace deal agreed recently between the government and moderate Islamists. | The Ethiopian withdrawal was also part of a peace deal agreed recently between the government and moderate Islamists. |
| Some analysts fear a power vacuum after the Ethiopians leave. | Some analysts fear a power vacuum after the Ethiopians leave. |
| There is a small African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu but analysts say they are unlikely to fight off the advancing Islamists. | |
| Vulnerable | |
| The AU Commission Chairman warned that the AU force could also leave if government in-fighting continues. | |
| "If the transitional government continues to quarrel, if those we came here to help can't agree and the Ethiopians pull out lock, stock and barrel... and African troops too decide to leave, then we have the worst possible scenario," he said, reports the AFP news agency. | |
| Some analysts fear a power vacuum after the Ethiopians leaveRashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank, said the Ethiopians may now use troops and air power against the Islamists, instead of having troops on the ground, who are vulnerable to attack. | |
| "The Ethiopians are at the end of their tether because of the squabbling in the interim government, which they have backed at such enormous human and financial cost," he told Reuters news agency. | |
| Some 10,000 civilians have been killed since 2007, Reuters reports. | |
| Donors say that up to three million people - almost half the population - need food aid. | |
| Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991. | Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991. |
| The anarchy has also spread to the seas, which attacks by pirates have made the most dangerous in the world. |