Ethiopian Pullout From Somalia Begins

Somali officials had a farewell ceremony Tuesday in Mogadishu for departing Ethiopian troops who helped rout an Islamic group from power last month.

At the ceremony, Ethiopian Gen. Seum Hagoss said about 50 trucks carrying Ethiopian soldiers along with tanks and armored vehicles were on their way home and said all of them would be gone within a matter of weeks, the Shabelle Media Network reported.

On a visit to Khartoum, Sudan, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi said some Ethiopian troops would remain until an African Union peacekeeping force can be deployed to replace them.

The Islamist government and its fighters fled Mogadishu as Ethiopian and loyal Somali forces closed in in late December, ending six months of fundamentalist rule. Prior to that, the city was in near anarchy with various warlords staking out territory and undermining police and military security measures.