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Ethiopian-Somali Talks Fall Apart
 Hundreds more Ethiopian troops moved into a second Somali town on Saturday to protect the country's weak, U.N.-backed government, and talks aimed at easing tensions here fell apart when Islamist militia delegates walked out and the government did not send representatives. About 200 Ethiopian troops with at least five pickup trucks mounted with machine guns and other vehicles moved into Wajid, a U.N. aid base, about 46 miles southeast of the Somali-Ethiopian border, at about 3 a.m. (0000GMT), several witnesses said on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals. The soldiers took control of the town's airport from a militia serving the local administration, they said. Arab League talks in Sudan, scheduled to resume Saturday, were aimed at easing the situation in Somalia, where the Islamist militia captured the capital, Mogadishu, from secular warlords and then consolidated their control over most of southern Somalia. Both sides signed a temporary cease-fire agreement June 22, and the Islamists formally recognized the government, something they had previously said they would not do. The talks fell apart Saturday when the Islamists walked out because of the Ethiopian incursion, and the government side said it would not attend until it received international guarantees that any agreement would be respected. Posted by: Fred 2006-07-22 |
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