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Somalia crisis talks in Ethiopia Sanctions imposed on Somalia head
(about 20 hours later)
Ethiopia is hosting a series of talks on the deepening crisis in its neighbour, Somalia. The East African regional grouping Igad has decided to impose sanctions on Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and his associates.
Foreign ministers from east Africa are meeting in the capital, Addis Ababa, to be followed by talks by the African Union's peace and security council. In a communique after a meeting of foreign ministers in Ethiopia it backed Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, whom the president tried to dismiss.
The emergency meetings come after Ethiopia decided to withdraw its troops from Somalia by the end of December. The grouping also discussed ways to replace Ethiopian troops when they pull out of Somalia in the next few weeks.
Islamist insurgents are gaining ground again after Ethiopia intervened two years ago to help government forces. African Union commission head Jean Ping said Nigeria was ready to send troops.
Different Islamist groups now control much of southern Somalia once more. Torn by internal conflict, Somalia has been without an effective central government for more than 15 years.
The Ethiopian troops and forces loyal to the interim Somali government are limited to parts of Mogadishu and the central town of Baidoa, where parliament is based. Infighting
Twin crises The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa says there was no doubt whose side this meeting of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (Igad) was on.
The transitional government is in disarray, says the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa, after President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed attempted to sack Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein - a move the prime minister and parliament rejected. In a place of honour on the platform was Ahmed Mohammed Goala, the Somali prime minister's newly appointed foreign minister, not his predecessor, who had been associated with President Abdullahi, our correspondent says.
With the president facing impeachment, it is not clear how much of a government is left for Somalia's neighbours in the East African regional grouping, Igad, and the AU to support, says our correspondent.It is feared that a power vacuum will arise after the Ethiopians pull out SOMALIA'S WOES 3m need food aid - a third of the population1m displacedGovernment only controls BaidoaIslamist groups control much of the countryNo effective government since 1991Piracy on the rise
When the Ethiopian soldiers leave Somalia, the small African Union peacekeeping force will be on its own. At the end of the meeting, the foreign ministers of the six member states expressed their support for Mr Nur and his newly appointed cabinet, and said they regretted the attempt by the president to replace him last Sunday.
Only a tiny handful of countries answered a call from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send forces to help, and no-one has volunteered to fill a leadership role. Mr Abdullahi said the government had been "paralysed by corruption, inefficiency and treason" and failed to bring peace.
It is these twin political and security crises that the foreign ministers from the East African regional organisation Igad (Inter-governmental Authority on Development) and the AU's peace and security council will seek to address at their meetings on Sunday and Monday. However, Somalia's parliament declared the sacking illegal and passed a vote of confidence in Mr Nur by a huge majority on Monday.
About one million people have fled their homes, many after fierce fighting in Mogadishu between Islamists and the Ethiopia-backed government forces. In the communique issued at the end of the meeting, Igad gave its strong backing to Mr Nur and his government.
Some three million people need food aid - about one-third of the population. "[Igad] regrets the attempts by President Abdullahi Yusuf to unconstitutionally appoint a new prime minister that Igad does not recognise, and decides to impose sanctions on him and his associates immediately," it said.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew President Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. It also called on other countries to take similar measures.
Our correspondent says that in addition to the infighting in the Somali government, the imminent departure of Ethiopian troops from the country overshadowed the meeting.
Some analysts fear a power vacuum after the Ethiopians leave
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said his country's decision to pull out over the coming weeks was "irrevocable".
Igad formally thanked the Ethiopians for the sacrifices they had made to advance the cause of peace in Somalia, but made no appeal to them to change their mind and stay.
The issue of peacekeeping will be considered further at a meeting of the African Union's Peace and Security Council on Monday.
Ministers now have the task of trying to beef up the AU's mission in Somalia, which will no longer have the comfort of knowing it can call for Ethiopian back-up when needed, our correspondent adds.
At the Igad meeting, the president of the African Union Commission said Nigeria had promised to send a battalion of about 850 soldiers to Somalia next month, and that Burundi and Uganda would each send an additional battalion.