The African Union (AU) rebuked media on Friday for "negative" coverage of Somalia, saying the Ethiopian military withdrawal was a major step towards peace for the Horn of Africa nation but had been portrayed otherwise. "It is sad to note that positive developments in Somalia are always overlooked while emphasis is put on negative events," it said in a statement by its peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu.
The AU, which has 3,500 soldiers in Somalia, took particular issue with some local media reports - citing witnesses - that Islamist insurgents from the hard-line al Shabaab group had taken over bases in Mogadishu left by the Ethiopians. Addis Ababa pulled its troops from the city this week, two years after going in to oust a Shariah courts movement that it saw as a threat to regional stability and linked to al Qaeda.
The AU statement said the old Ethiopian bases had, in fact, been occupied by forces of the government and a moderate wing of an opposition Islamist group. The United Nations is pressing those two sides to form a power-sharing administration.
"The African Union therefore wishes to highlight this as a successful co-ordination process of TFG (Transitional Federal Government) and ARS (Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia) forces ... (and) a major achievement." The AU said Ethiopia's exit was in line with a UN-brokered peace plan for Somalia, that also foresees the expansion of parliament and election of a new president this month.