21/04/08 (B444) Press TV / Le Premier Ministre somalien défend la présence et l’action des troupes éthiopiennes en Somalie / Somali PM defends Ethiopian troops (En Anglais – Info lecteur)

Somali Prime Minister has been grilled over his recent remarks alleging that Ethiopian troops are defending themselves against assaults.

The Ethiopians are not killers, they are only defending themselves against the enemy-launched attacks, a Press TV correspondent quoted Nur Hassan Hussein as saying in South Mogadishu on Sunday.

Somali Premier’s comments come as Ethiopian artillery fire has reportedly left at least 50 civilians killed and 150 others seriously wounded.

The Ethiopians are hated in Somalia. They marched into the country in December 2006 to help Somalia’s interim government oust the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

The union controlled Mogadishu and much of southern and central Somalia in 2006.