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Ethiopia has announced its intention to withdraw its troops from neighboring Somalia by the end of this year. But as correspondent Peter Heinlein reports from Addis Ababa, Ethiopian officials have assured the African Union their forces will remain on alert at the border to support the remaining AU peacekeepers if necessary.Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu, (file photo) |
Ethiopia has sent a letter to the United Nations and the African Union saying it will withdraw its forces from positions inside Somalia by the end of December. African and western diplomats2 confirmed to VOA the letter was delivered several days ago.
The pullout would come two years after Ethiopian troops invaded their lawless Horn of Africa neighbor to drive out Islamists who had imposed Sharia law on a large part of the country.
Since then, the Ethiopian contingent3 of between 10,000 and 15,000 troops has been the prime force propping4 up Somalia's fragile transitional government. They operate alongside a 3,400 strong AU peacekeeping unit known as AMISOM, made up of Ugandan and Burundian soldiers.
The letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping announcing the intent to withdraw was sent after Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin publicly warned Somalia's feuding5 president and prime minister to patch up their differences or be left alone to fight among themselves.
The bodies of alleged6 insurgents7 lie in Mogadishu after fighting broke out on 21 Nov 2008 |
Many African diplomats have openly expressed fears that an Ethiopian pullout could lead to an immediate8 collapse of the TFG, as the Somali government is known. But AU Commission Chairman Ping told reporters Wednesday he has received assurances from Ethiopia that they will not completely abandon Somalia, and will remain on the border, poised10 to return if conditions deteriorate11.
"In spite of withdrawal12 of the Ethiopians, they will remain committed, just in the other side of the border, and they will intervene, and the African troops will remain there. The AMISOM will remain there and we'll continue to ask strengthening of AMISOM by asking new troops and also financial assistance," he said.
Ping said he is preparing for a number of possible scenarios13 to protect Somalia and the remaining peacekeepers when Ethiopia pulls out. But he expressed hope the Ethiopians could be persuaded to postpone14 their withdrawal if Somalia's leaders settle their internal dispute.
"This depends on the behavior of the Transitional Government of Somalia," Ping said. We hope they will understand they are there to help the country to help them and they should stop quarreling… So we hope that this will be the case and then we can continue this operation in Somalia."
Ping said negotiations15 are on to attract more African troops to bolster16 the AU force so it could shoulder the entire peacekeeping burden once Ethiopia withdraws. Kenya has already said it will soon dispatch a battalion17 to Somalia. Ping said he is also urging the U.N. Security Council to provide help, in view of the surge of piracy18 that threatens vital shipping19 lanes of the Somali coast.
"We already have a request to the Security Council. [There is] a need for them to come as quick as possible, because the disorder20 we are seeing on the ocean with piracy is an extension on the sea of the disorder that is going on on the mainland," he said.
African diplomats Thursday expressed hope that the current crisis could force governments in the region and the international community to take a fresh look at ways to prevent a turn for the worse in Somalia. The country has been without a functioning government for 18 years.
Newly arrived Somali refugees at the Dadaab camp, northeastern Kenya, 16 Oct 2008 |
A combination of lawlessness and civil war has created one of the world's worst humanitarian21 disasters. The United Nations estimates 3.2 million people, about 40 percent of the population, are in need of emergency assistance.
While asking for anonymity22, one senior diplomat1 from a country considering a troop contribution to AMISOM told VOA, "Ethiopia can't leave now. It's just too dangerous."
1 diplomat | |
n.外交官,外交家;能交际的人,圆滑的人 | |
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2 diplomats | |
n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 );有手腕的人,善于交际的人 | |
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3 contingent | |
adj.视条件而定的;n.一组,代表团,分遣队 | |
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4 propping | |
支撑 | |
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5 feuding | |
vi.长期不和(feud的现在分词形式) | |
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6 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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7 insurgents | |
n.起义,暴动,造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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8 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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9 collapse | |
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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10 poised | |
a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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11 deteriorate | |
v.变坏;恶化;退化 | |
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12 withdrawal | |
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销 | |
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13 scenarios | |
n.[意]情节;剧本;事态;脚本 | |
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14 postpone | |
v.延期,推迟 | |
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15 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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16 bolster | |
n.枕垫;v.支持,鼓励 | |
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17 battalion | |
n.营;部队;大队(的人) | |
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18 piracy | |
n.海盗行为,剽窃,著作权侵害 | |
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19 shipping | |
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船) | |
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20 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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21 humanitarian | |
n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者 | |
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22 anonymity | |
n.the condition of being anonymous | |
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