MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has rejected a request from Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to have Ugandan troops, a part of the African Union Assist and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), take management of Ethiopian army bases, Caasimada On-line information web site reported on Monday.
Throughout a quick stopover in Kampala on Friday, Mohamud proposed that Ugandan forces assume duty for Ethiopian positions in Gedo, Bay, and Bakool areas. He additionally steered changing Ethiopian troops in Baidoa, the capital of Southwest state, regardless of opposition from regional President Abdiasis Laftagaren.
Museveni dismissed the plan, citing Baidoa’s distance from Mogadishu and insurgent-controlled roads. He emphasised that air transport wouldn’t suffice for reinforcements within the occasion of an assault.
The Ugandan president as a substitute really useful that Ethiopian and Kenyan forces stay at their present bases, as they’re strategically positioned close to their respective borders.
Though the assembly didn’t yield a positive response, President Mohamud is exploring different choices to take away Ethiopian troops from Baidoa and different key southern Somali cities.
Mohamud, who insists on the conduct of direct elections in southern Somalia, believes that the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Gedo, Bay, and Bakool would weaken opposition from Jubaland and Southwest state to his electoral agenda.
Southwest state President Abdiasis Laftagaren has urged Mogadishu to retain Ethiopian troops in Baidoa, warning that the proximity of Al-Shabaab, simply 5 kilometers from town middle, poses a big safety menace to town.
Somali federal authorities are urgent Ethiopia to relocate its troops from positions close to the border to deeper throughout the nation as a situation for his or her participation within the African Union Assist and Stabilization Mission (AUSSOM), which started operations in January.
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