Ethiopian soldier killed in southern Somalia

MOGADISHU, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Attackers killed one Ethiopian soldier and wounded another in the southern Somali port of Kismayu on Thursday, in the latest assault on the interim government's ally in a war to oust rival Islamists.

The shootout happened in the main market in Kismayu, the last city the Islamists held before joint Ethiopian-Somali government forces ran them into the nearby bush of Somalia's southern tip over the New Year.

"One Ethiopian soldier got killed and another one was wounded when gunmen opened fire at them. We do not know who was behind this act, but we are investigating," lawmaker Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig, who is also the regional government administrator, told Reuters by telephone from Kismayu.

Kismayu's police chief, Mohamed Abdi, said 36 people were arrested and were being interrogated.

Reuters

The gunfight was the first against Ethiopians in Kismayu, but the latest in a spate of attacks against Ethiopian and government troops across the country -- most of them in the chaotic capital Mogadishu.

The allies ran the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) out of the seaside capital and most of southern Somalia in a lighting assault with Ethiopian jets and tanks, that ended the Islamist movement's six-month rule under strict sharia law.

Many suspect hardcore Islamist remnants from the two-week war are behind the attacks, but there are many enemies of the government including clan militias and criminals.

Besides, Ethiopia for at least a millennium has been a rival of its Horn of Africa neighbour Somalia, and many Somalis are furious that a foe in two wars in the last 50 years is patrolling the streets and propping up the government.

OPEN DOOR?

The Ethiopians on Tuesday pulled out at least 200 soldiers as part of a drawdown to make way for an African Union-backed peacekeeping contingent of nearly 8,000 troops.

Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi have promised soldiers, while South Africa and Mozambique are deciding whether to take part in a mission still being assembled.

Somalia's government, tasting victory for the first time since it was established at peace talks in Kenya in late 2004, on Thursday gave the first sign it might talk with Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a former leader of the SICC seen as a moderate.

He turned himself in to police along the Kenyan border on Sunday.

"The government ... will accommodate all political actors, including Sheikh Sharif Ahmed," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said. "But he has to renounce violence and must ask for forgiveness to the Somali people."

U.S. ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger, also responsible for Somalia, on Wednesday met with Ahmed in Nairobi, where he is under the watch of Kenya's intelligence arm.

Washington has said it believes Ahmed could play a constructive role in reconciliation if he renounces extremism and violence, and urges his followers to do the same.

"We saw a window of opportunity for peace in Somalia and we are asking the Somalis to lead a politically inclusive dialogue," the U.S. ambassador to the AU, Cindy Courville, told a press conference in Addis Ababa.

Diplomats say Kenya and the United States want the government to talk to Ahmed to encourage moderate SICC backers to join Somalia's 14th attempt at a government since anarchy broke out in 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted.

In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, one of the chief financiers of the SICC, wealthy businessman Abukar Omar Adan, 72, late on Wednesday pleaded guilty to entering Kenya illegally. His son also appeared, but said he was not guilty because he had a visa.

But their lawyer said they are refugees and that Adan would fight deportation on those grounds.

"My clients were running away from Somalia's conflict in fear of their lives," lawyer James Orengo told Reuters on Thursday. "They are entitled to protection." (Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle in Mogadishu, Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa and Robert Hummy in Nairobi)