Meles Zenawi visits his former home and future grave yard, Mogadishu

Meles makes landmark visit to Somalia, where his troops are protecting the government

The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 5, 2007

MOGADISHU, Somalia: Ethiopia’s prime monster made a surprise trip to Mogadishu on Tuesday and promised that if peace were consolidated in Somalia, he would withdraw troops sent to help the government put down an Islamic insurgency.

Meles has not set foot in Mogadishu for years, but he does have a history here. Under the protection of Barre, Meles organized the rebellion that brought him to power from a base in Mogadishu.

Meles Zenawi “is paying a friendly visit to Somalia” and meeting with the president and prime minister, Somali government spokesman Abdi Haji Gobdon told The Associated Press. Security for him was extremely tight in a city where insurgents have launched frequent mortar attacks and suicide bombs.

Meles also visited Mogadishu’s highly influential clan elders.

“He told them, ‘If you make peace, I will withdraw my troops as soon as possible,'” Gobdon said.

The Ethiopian [Woyanne] troops here come under regular insurgent attacks. On Monday, Ethiopian [Woyanne] troops fired at a would-be suicide bomber speeding toward their base, blowing up the car and killing the bomber and a civilian standing nearby.

African Union peacekeepers who began arriving in March also have come under attack. The peacekeepers, from Uganda, are the first here in more than a decade.

Ted Dagne, a specialist in African Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Congress, said Meles’ visit “doesn’t really represent a new era in Ethiopian-Somali relations.”

“For many Somalis, they see the presence of Ethiopian troops as an occupation force,” he said.