Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in Kuwait on Sunday that Ethiopian troops will complete their withdrawal from neighbouring Somalia after the arrival of African Union peacekeeping forces.

"Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu will withdraw when the African Union peacekeepers arrive to support Ugandan forces which are already there," Meles was quoted by the state-run Kuwait News Agency KUNA as saying.

Meles announced in March that two-thirds of the Ethiopian deployment, which helped Somali troops drive out Islamists from south and central Somalia five months ago, had been withdrawn.

That decision to withdraw troops was taken by Ethiopia alone, Meles said Sunday, denying reported US pressure.

A small force of some 1,500 African Union troops from Uganda is currently deployed at strategic points around Mogadishu, but the AU has not yet gathered the 8,000 troops planned for its peacekeeping force.

Hundreds of people have been killed in heavy clashes in the Somali capital between insurgents and government forces backed by Ethiopian troops.

Three top Somali leaders, including top Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hussein Aidid, last month issued a stern warning to Ethiopia to withdraw its troops immediately or face an all-out war.

Meles, who paid a two-day visit to Kuwait, told KUNA before leaving the emirate that the struggle in Somalia is between the transitional government and forces of the Islamist movement, which consists of two groups.

The first includes most of the tribal fighters who do not belong to the Al-Qaeda network, while the other is a small group of Al-Qaeda members, Meles said.

AP