Nov 28 (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Friday it would withdraw its troops from Somalia by the end of this year, piling pressure on Somalia's feuding government and African nations that have promised to send peacekeepers. Here is a timeline of events since Islamists first seized the capital, Mogadishu: June 2006 - The Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) seizes Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords and takes control of parts of southern Somalia. Dec. 28 - Islamists flee Mogadishu ahead of a joint Ethiopian and Somali government force which captures the city. Jan. 8, 2007 - Abdullahi Yusuf arrives in Mogadishu for the first time since he became president in 2004. Aug. 30 - Yusuf winds up a six-week-long peace conference, which has no visible impact on growing insurgency. Islamists and some other opposition figures boycotted the talks. March 26, 2008 - Islamist fighters seize Jowhar, the most significant of several towns recently captured. May, 1 - U.S. air strike kills al Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayro. Aug. 18 - Somalia formally signs peace deal with some opposition figures, but the pact is rejected by hardliners. Aug. 22 - Al Shabaab insurgents seize Kismayu, a strategic southern port, after fighting that killed 70 people. Aug. 25 - U.N.'s Food Security Analysis Unit says more than 3.2 million people need humanitarian aid. Sept. 16 - Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, based in Mogadishu, says almost 9,500 people have been killed since early 2007. Oct. 3 - Islamists, now controlling swathes of southern Somalia, warn Western charities working there not to meddle in their affairs. Nov. 12 - Rebels take port of Merka, 90 km (56 miles) southwest of Mogadishu, after government-aligned militia leave. Nov. 14 - Al Shabaab fighters move into Elasha town near Sinkadheer, where Ethiopian troops are based. Sinkadheer is 15 km (9 miles) south-west of Mogadishu. Nov. 15 - Somali pirates seize the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker, the biggest ship ever hijacked. They are still holding it. Nov. 16 - President Yusuf says that Islamist insurgents now control most of the country and raises the prospect his government could completely collapse. Nov. 28 - Ethiopia says it has informed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Jean Ping, chairman of the AU Commission that it has decided to withdraw its military forces by the end of 2008.
Jose Miguel Tuason Arroyo, husband of Philippine's President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, takes off his glasses during the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Cebu, central Philippines, in this January ...
