Nairobi/Addis Ababa  - Ethiopia's opposition held a rare demonstration in the capital Addis Ababa Thursday to demand the release of an opposition leader, who is serving a life sentence.

Birtukan Midekssa, the head of the Unity for Democracy Justice (UDJ), was arrested along with dozens of other opposition officials during protests that followed the 2005 elections.

The opposition did well in the polls, but accused the party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of stealing the elections.

Nairobi/Mogadishu - Islamist insurgents have executed a Somali politician in the port town of Kismayo for working with Ethiopian forces occupying Somalia, reports said Friday.

The Islamists seized control of Kismayo last August and implemented Sharia law.

A 12-year-old girl was stoned to death for adultery there despite claims that she was in fact raped.

Radio Shabelle said that Abdirahaman Xaji Mohamed, also known as Wadiiro, was executed for working with a warlord sympathetic to the Ethiopians.

Nairobi/Addis Ababa - Ethiopia has come under fire for passing a bill that imposes limitations on the work of aid agencies related to human rights.

Parliament on Tuesday voted through the bill, which bans foreign agencies from operating in the fields of human rights, gender equality, children's and disabled persons' rights, conflict resolution and criminal justice issues.

Local charities that receive more than 10 per cent of their funding from abroad will also face these restrictions.

Kampala  - Uganda warned Saturday it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia as Islamist forces appeared to begin seizing territory left unguarded by departing Ethiopian forces.

"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia in late 2006 to help kick out hardline regime the Islamic Courts Union (ICU).

Mogadishu - Dozens of trucks full of Ethiopian soldiers and their belongings left the Somali capital Mogadishu Friday as Ethiopia began to withdraw from its neighbour after a two-year occupation.

Ethiopian forces invaded in late 2006 to help kick out the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) - a hardline Islamist regime that was in power for six months.

They have spent the last two years battling a resultant insurgency in Southern and Central Somalia.

Nairobi/Addis Ababa  - Ethiopia is to pull its troops out of Somalia by the end of the year, increasing the likelihood that Islamist insurgents will completely overrun the weak central government.

Ethiopia has previously said it would pull out of its conflict- ridden neighbour but always promised to ensure it would not leave behind a security vacuum.

However, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said Friday that it would extract its several thousand soldiers unconditionally by the end of the year.

Ethiopian forces invaded in 2006 to help kick out the Islamic Courts' Union (ICU) - a hardline Islamist regime that was in power for six months.