Islamic Courts Returns to Mogadishu

Islamic Courts Union fighters seized control of positions left by Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu. (Reuters)

"Our forces have taken control of areas deserted by the Ethiopians in order to maintain security," ICU spokesman Ise Ado said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Residents said that ICU fighters had taken over the former defense ministry, a former pasta factory and a stadium in Mogadishu.

"Islamists in dozens of vehicles took the former defense ministry building after the Ethiopians left the Shirkole area," eyewitness Hasan Farah Doyow said.

"They were chanting 'Allah is great'."

The ICU briefly controlled large parts of Somalia in 2006 before Ethiopian forces invaded and ousted them from power.

Since then, Somalia plunged into an abyss of almost daily violence, killing more than 10,000 people and displacing one million.

The ICU's military organization engaged in a bruising guerrilla war against Ethiopian and Somali government troops while its political leadership scattered into exile.

It became part of an umbrella organization founded in Eritrea called the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), which signed a power-sharing deal with the government.

Withdrawal

The new development came one day after Addis Ababa completed troop withdrawal from Mogadishu.

"I can confirm that the Ethiopian soldiers have fully withdrawn from the capital this morning and none of them remain," said Somali government spokesman Abdi Haji Gobdon.

Ibrahim Abdi Mohamed, who lives 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the capital, confirmed that all Ethiopian troops withdrew from the war-torn capital.

"The last troops left early morning and we have no Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu," he said.

"The last convoy of 30 trucks were seen on their way to Afgoye road."

"I saw the last convoy of Ethiopian forces passing by on the road," added Ahmed Farax Nur, who lives on the outskirts of Mogadishu and was woken by the tanks rumbling past in the dark.

"Most of them were walking alongside their vehicles."

Addis Ababa says Ethiopian troops will remain on the border between the two countries.

"It would be very prudent to be alert," said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

"We have more than a decade of experience in this regard, we need to have a robust deployment of troops across the border."

Somalia has lacked an effective central government since the 1991 downfall of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre sparking a series of bloody power struggles.