Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Thursday denied U.S. involvement in the country's counterattacks on Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

"The U.S. hasn't contributed a single bullet, a single soldier or a single military equipment to this operation," Meles told a press conference in Addis Ababa.

"We have with the U.S. long standing arrangements to share intelligence on terrorist activities in the neighborhood and that sharing of intelligence has not been stopped during the conflict. This is the sum total of our close partnership with the U.S. and the so-called involvement of the U.S. in the Somali crisis."

He said the UIC has simply melted away and that its grassroot militia have surrendered and abandoned Mogadishu to their clan bases on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

In the process of their disbanding and scatter out of Mogadishu, UIC members distributed the guns under their control to unemployed youths in the town to create havoc in the wake of their withdrawal, said Meles.

These newly-armed unemployed youth have now been involving in widespread acts of violence and robbery in the town, he said.

He also said the Shura Council which presides over the UIC leadership has crumpled, adding that the existence of the UIC is no more. "Currently, there are only remnants of the group moving towards the seacoast."

Meles reiterated Ethiopia's object is defending the danger posed against it, saying that upon completion of this mission, the Ethiopian army would withdraw from Somalia.

He said the mission will continue until those responsible are put under control. "We are planning to stay there for a month hopefully it would be completed in days if not a few weeks at most, but once we have done that we are out of it."

"The Ethiopian mission in Somalia is limited and targeted at defending against the attacks of the extremist force on Ethiopia and Somalia. If this accomplished, Somalis will solve their internal problem."

Meles said his government would provide support to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in the latter's efforts to stabilize the situation in Mogadishu.

He said Ethiopia may provide support to help Somalis solve their problems provided that it is requested to do so and provided that it has the capacity.

However, he said what Somalis demand is beyond the capacity of Ethiopia. "Their demand is a huge humanitarian relief assistance and a peacekeeping force," he said.

On Thursday, TFG Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi said TFG troops have entered areas of Mogadishu, hours after the UIC abandoned the capital city.

At the weekend, Ethiopia began a major offensive to support the weak government against the UIC, which previously held much of central and southern Somalia.

Source: Xinhua