Somalia: Ethiopian embassy reopened in Somalia
Aweys Osman Yusuf
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Mogadishu 27, May.07 ( Sh.M.Network) After 16 years, the Ethiopian government has formally reopened its embassy in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, Sunday amid series bombings continue in the volatile city.
The embassy was now opened closer the presidential palace (Villa Somalia) in south of the capital. Former Ethiopian embassy lied near Shangani at the center of Mogadishu.
Somalia’s two top officials, president Yusuf and premier Gedi attended the ceremony in which the Ethiopian foreign minister, Seum Mesfin, erected the Ethiopian flag in the new Ethiopian embassy.
Members of the Somali cabinet ministers, MPs and high ranking Ugandan officials from the African Union in Mogadishu were among the dignitaries present at celebration.
Mesfin, who addressed the attendees, said the reopening of the Ethiopian embassy in Somalia shows the good friendship Ethiopia has had with Somalia since the end of the warfare between the two once archenemies.
The minister celebrated with a group of Somali traditional dancers showing his happiness as the security around the perimeter was heavily tightened by Ethiopian and Somalia military troops.
Prime minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, praised Ethiopia for shedding blood to enable the transitional government to grab control of Somalia from the Islamic Courts that were in control for at least six months.
“There is no so called hostility between Somalia and Ethiopia. Definitely Ethiopia is our true friend that put the lives of thousands of its troops on the line for saving Somalia,” he said.
He also complimented the Ugandan government for sending its troops to Somalia where no central institutions have been affective for the last 16 years.
The reopening of the embassy comes as Islamist leader, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed in Asmara, Eritrea, called on the Somalis to continue fighting with the foreign troops and the transitional government backed by Ethiopia in the war-ravaged country.
