Djibouti (HAN) March 5, 2005 -On Monday again the Somalia President Abdullahi Yusuf defended his proposal to invite peacekeepers from neighboring countries, including his major regional supporter Ethiopia.
US Secretary Rice (R) and her South African counterpart Dlamini-Zuma
The United States says it is opposed to the use of troops from neighboring countries as peacekeepers in Somalia. The key warlords most dangerous capital militia (USC) are opposed to the inclusion of Ethiopian troops and there have been huge protests in the Mogadishu and USC militia throughout Southern Somalia. The Somalia's neighbors and especially Ethiopia have been accused of prolonging the anarchy by backing militias like SRRC, RRA and Somaliland.
There were chaotic scenes at Baidoa airport as people ran away from the aircraft as the militia demanded wages for guarding the planes for two days. According to the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan the impasse lasted about 30 minutes. Local warlord Mohammed Nur Habsade assured the armed men that they would receive their money, and a supply of khat, an addictive stimulant popular in Somalia. Baidoa, suggested by some cabinet ministers as a safer, alternative seat for the new government, was by contrast the most dangerous, our correspondent says.
The United States shares the concerns of the international community and many Somalis regarding the introduction of foreign troops into Somalia," US state department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement.
"Somalia's neighbours have legitimate national interests that are best protected by the successful establishment of a stable and effective central government in Somalia; however, any external force should exclude troops from those countries," he said.
The Federal Somalia President wants Ethiopian troops to protect him from USC militia in southern Somalia and to disarm the Sixty thousand USC militiamen in Southern Somlia.
The Somalia President has ended his first official visit to the SRRC controlled area of Southern and easterner Somalia since being elected last year but did not go to the capital, Mogadishu, where he has a zero power base.
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