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Ethiopian troops begin withdrawing from Somalia

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MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Ethiopian troops began to withdraw from Mogadishu Tuesday as part of a troop rotation with fresh troops entering the country from Ethopia.

Ethiopian General Suem Hagoss announced Tuesday that "starting today, we will withdraw our forces from Mogadishu" at a Somalian government ceremony at the site where Somali warlords have been handing over their weapons to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), according to journalist Mohamed Amiin who attended the ceremony.

Following the ceremony, a convoy of approximately 30 military trucks loaded with Ethiopian troops and military equipment departed from Mogadishu on the International Airport Road.

Meanwhile, witness accounts from the area of Hiiran say that about 1,500 fresh Ethiopian troops were making their way across the border from Ethiopia into Somalia.

In Addis Ababa, Somali Ambassador to Ethiopia and to the African Union (AU) Mohamed Farah, tells CNN that it is premature to say Ethiopian troops are withdrawing, since their mission has not ended. He said these troops are being rotated and that the Ethopian and Somali governments have not yet named a date for Ethiopian troop withdrawal.

Farah added that the AU did vote on Friday to send nine battalions of peacekeeping troops to Somalia for a 6-month mandate. Each battalion will include approximately 900 soldiers, and the first three of the nine battalions has orders for immediate deployment to Somalia.

At the end of the mandate, UN peacekeeping troops are expected to replace AU troops.

Also on Tuesday, Yemen officially reopened its embassy in Mogadishu, which has been closed since the start of the Somali civil war in 1991. This is the first official diplomatic mission to return to the country since the civil war ended and the installation of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.

-- Journalist Mohamed Amiin contributed to this report

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