A top UN envoy said today that Somalia's government needs protection following its relocation to the capital after ousting an Islamic movement that had held Mogadishu for six months.
The UN secretary general's special representative to Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, arrived in Mogadishu for his first meeting with President Abdullahi Yusuf in the capital.
"To see the president in Villa Somalia (the official presidential residence) is a very important step. We have to move step by step and we need all efforts to get this country rebuilt," Mr Fall told journalists before going into a closed-door meeting with Mr Yusuf.
After a 30-minute meeting with Mr Yusuf, Fall told journalists that now the government had relocated to Mogadishu, "we need to protect them and also facilitate the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. This is what everyone expects."
Government forces — backed by Ethiopian troops — ousted Somalia's Islamic movement in December from Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia. The Islamic movement, formally known as the Council of Islamic Courts, had controlled much of southern Somalia since June.
Ethiopia has said it can't afford to keep its troops in Somalia much longer. At a seminar on Somalia in Washington yesterday, an Ethiopian diplomat said his country's forces would begin to withdraw in the coming days.
The hope is that regional peacekeepers move in quickly to fill the void the Ethiopian withdrawal would leave. But so far only Uganda has committed to contributing troops and few others have shown enthusiasm for a proposed 8,000-strong African mission to bolster the government's attempt to create law and order.
A peacekeeping mission could face violence, something that may deter many countries from committing soldiers.
Seeing a powerful warlord, Mohamed Siad Hersi, better known as General Morgan, in talks with Yusuf was "a good indication," that reconciliation in Somalia was making progress, though, "the road is still long," Mr Fall said.
The transitional government continued to find it difficult to assert its authority, with clan differences emerging as a major obstacle.
Today, Mr Yusuf ordered that Somalia's second port, Kismayo, be closed after the defense minister refused to allow presidential appointees to take it over. Defence minister Col. Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire complained that Mr Yusuf had failed to appoint members of clans with strongholds in the port area, a government official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Mr Yusuf ordered one of his loyalists to send militiamen to close the port. Ethiopian troops intervened to try to calm the tense situation, but the port remained closed, the official said.