26/01/07 (B379) BBC / Des soldats éthiopiens trouvent la mort en Somalie. Ethiopian soldier dies in Somalia. (Info lectrice en anglais)

An
Ethiopian soldier has been killed and another seriously wounded after unknown
gunmen opened fire on troops at a market in Kismayo, southern Somalia.

Somali
army commander Abdulrazak Afgudud told the BBC that several people had been
arrested.

The Ethiopian
soldiers were on board a pick-up truck when the gunmen shot at them and escaped.

Ethiopia
has begun a phased withdrawal of its troops from Somalia after helping the
government oust Islamists.

The African
Union is putting together a peacekeeping force to replace the Ethiopians.

AU chair
Alpha Oumar Konare has appealed to countries across the continent to send
peacekeepers to Somalia, saying there could be a "tragedy" without
rapid intervention.

POSSIBLE
PEACEKEEPERS

Nine battalions
proposed – up to 9,000 troops:
Uganda : 1,500 troops offered, subject to parliamentary approval
Malawi: Up to 1,000 troops offered
Nigeria: 1,000 troops offered
Ghana: Reportedly offered troops
Tanzania: Considering
Rwanda: Considering
South Africa: Considering but forces stretched

He said
Ghana had agreed to supply troops, following Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria.

He was
speaking ahead of next week’s AU summit, at which the situation in Somalia
is set to be high on the agenda.

In neighbouring
Kenya, one of the main financial backers of the Union of Islamic Courts faces
being sent back to Somalia, after pleading guilty to illegally entering Kenya.

A lawyer
for Abubakar Omar Aden, a 72-year old businessman, who once controlled Somalia’s
El Maan port, said his life would be in danger if he was deported.

One of
the UIC leaders, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, is also in Kenya, where he has
held secret talks with US ambassador Michael Ranneberger.

Since
the Islamists were removed from power in Mogadishu, Kenyan has closed its
borders and deported dozens of Somalis who fled into the country.

Market
shut

The BBC’s
Mohammed Olad Hassan in Somalia says the Ethiopian soldiers were shopping
at the time of the attack and were caught unawares.

"The
gunmen used pistols and they have taken away AK-47 riffles from the Ethiopian
soldiers," witness Abdullahi Hassan told the AP news agency.

Business
premises at the market have been shut down following the attack – the first
since Ethiopians and government troops took control of Kismayo earlier this
month.

Some Islamists
have pledged to conduct a guerrilla war against government forces. More than
3,000 Islamist gunmen are believed to have gone into hiding.

Kismayo
was the last major town held by the Union of Islamic Courts to be taken by
Somali government and Ethiopian forces.