(Mar 05, 2012, BAIDOA: AFP)--Residents are urging the Ethiopians to remain in Somalia, and Ethiopia says it will leave as soon as peace is established, but it is not clear how long that could take.
“We don’t want to stay more, we want to stabilise this country and (leave),” said Ethiopian army Captain Mahmoud Yissak. “After the peace comes, we will go,” he added, speaking to reporters on a trip organised by the Ethiopian government.
But many say they need the Ethiopians to stay in order to ensure Shabab insurgents do not return. “We need Ethiopia’s long presence here,” said an MP for Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Mohamed Habselleh.
“This thing needs support, this thing depends how the TFG will support us, and how the Ethiopian troops will support us, if they support is very well. Baidoa won’t turn to the hands of Al Shabab,” he said, adding that life under Shabab in Baidoa was like an “earthquake.”
Keeping the city out of Shabab hands will require political institutions and a functioning administration, but Somalia’s Western-backed TFG is weak and controls less than half the country. And its tenure is set to end in August, when nation-wide elections are scheduled to be held.
“We need federal government, elections: one vote one man. We don’t need selected government, we need elected government,” said former governor of Baidoa, Abdifattah Guessay. He does not know how long it might take to create a viable government in Baidoa, but for now he is happy Shebab is gone.
“There is a big chance now. The town had good buildings, good businesses, peace. (Shebab) destroyed good businesses, good people, they stopped everything,” he said. The former radio station owner left Baidoa when Shabab took over in 2009, settling near the Ethiopian border.
He is relieved to be back, he said, to rebuild Somalia’s commercial capital, where auto parts shops, bars and pharmacies are tightly packed together on the city’s main road that is lined by armed soldiers. “I am back in my land, I am back in my community, I am back with my family, and I am back with my elected people,” Guessay said.
Source: Gulf Today
“We don’t want to stay more, we want to stabilise this country and (leave),” said Ethiopian army Captain Mahmoud Yissak. “After the peace comes, we will go,” he added, speaking to reporters on a trip organised by the Ethiopian government.
But many say they need the Ethiopians to stay in order to ensure Shabab insurgents do not return. “We need Ethiopia’s long presence here,” said an MP for Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Mohamed Habselleh.
“This thing needs support, this thing depends how the TFG will support us, and how the Ethiopian troops will support us, if they support is very well. Baidoa won’t turn to the hands of Al Shabab,” he said, adding that life under Shabab in Baidoa was like an “earthquake.”
Keeping the city out of Shabab hands will require political institutions and a functioning administration, but Somalia’s Western-backed TFG is weak and controls less than half the country. And its tenure is set to end in August, when nation-wide elections are scheduled to be held.
“We need federal government, elections: one vote one man. We don’t need selected government, we need elected government,” said former governor of Baidoa, Abdifattah Guessay. He does not know how long it might take to create a viable government in Baidoa, but for now he is happy Shebab is gone.
“There is a big chance now. The town had good buildings, good businesses, peace. (Shebab) destroyed good businesses, good people, they stopped everything,” he said. The former radio station owner left Baidoa when Shabab took over in 2009, settling near the Ethiopian border.
He is relieved to be back, he said, to rebuild Somalia’s commercial capital, where auto parts shops, bars and pharmacies are tightly packed together on the city’s main road that is lined by armed soldiers. “I am back in my land, I am back in my community, I am back with my family, and I am back with my elected people,” Guessay said.
Source: Gulf Today
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