Somali President Says Rejects Ethiopian Withdrawal

Interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has rejected the withdrawal of Ethiopia’s troops from his country, insisting that they will remain in Somalia until the insurgency waged by various Islamists groups is quashed. Speaking in Nairobi, Kenya, Yusuf chided the Islamists for having refused to honour a peace deal his government signed with the more moderate opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), and accused them of being the obstacle to peace in Somalia.[PE]