http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20817706-2703,00.html
Ethiopian PM threatens war with Islamists
Jonathan Clayton
November 25, 2006
Danger: Meles Zenawi
THE Horn of Africa, one of the most volatile regions in the world, edged closer
to war yesterday after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his country
had completed preparations to take on a powerful Islamic alliance in
neighbouring Somalia.
Mr Zenawi told the Ethiopian parliament the Islamists presented a "clear and
present danger" to Ethiopia, whose main regional enemy - Eritrea - was arming
them. He said attempts to settle the crisis through negotiation had failed.
"When any country faces that type of danger, it has the full right to defend
itself against this threat," Mr Meles said.
"To exercise this right, we have been preparing for this kind of response
because it is our responsibility."
Opposition MPs criticised his statement, saying it amounted to a declaration of
war.
The Islamists, who control most of Somalia, later met in an emergency session
in Mogadishu, the capital, and vowed to defend the country against a "reckless
and war-thirsty" Ethiopia.
At the same time, the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia, a coalition of 11
Islamic organisations that gained power this year from local warlords, invited
Washington to send a delegation to Mogadishu for talks.
Abdurahim Muddey, a council spokesman, said: "We are inviting the United States
to send a delegation to see what is happening in Somalia ... The US delegation
will be received by our foreign relations chief, Ibrahim Hassan Addow, who is
himself an American citizen."
The US has accused the Islamists of having links to al-Qa'ida and has
encouraged Ethiopia to send 5000 troops to support the Government, based in the
border town of Baidoa.
A UN report also recently accused 11 countries of fuelling the conflict in
Somalia by supplying arms to either side. It said the influx of weaponry risked
igniting a new regional war in the Horn of Africa similar to the 1976-78 Ogaden
War, in which the US and the then Soviet Union backed opposing sides.
Aidan Hartley, a regional analyst and author, said: "We are now looking at a
potent mix of nationalism and Islam. Many of the Islamists are also
nationalists who have never forgotten the humiliation of losing the Ogaden (to
Ethiopia)."
Several regional experts have disputed the UN report, which also claimed that
Somali fighters fought alongside Hezbollah against Israel in this year's
Lebanon conflict. They said only a handful of the Islamists were extremists and
that the US approach risked strengthening - rather than weakening - their
position.
In echoes of allegations against Saddam Hussein's Iraq before its invasion, the
report also alleged that Iran sought to purchase uranium from the Supreme
Islamic Council of Somalia in exchange for weapons. It named 11 countries that
have violated the country's arms embargo, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran,
Libya and Egypt.
Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, supreme leader of the Islamists, has been designated
a terrorist by the US, which earlier this month said Somali extremists might be
plotting suicide attacks in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Intelligence sources say Washington has indicated to Ethiopia that it would not
oppose a military operation to remove the Islamists, but regional experts say
such an action would ignite the region. Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a
devastating border war in 1998-2000 and have several unresolved border
disputes.
It is feared that both would soon be directly embroiled in any fresh conflict.
Washington previously ran a covert operation to support Somali warlords
fighting the Islamists for control of Mogadishu, which collapsed in June when
the city fell. The warlords carved up Somalia in 1991 after Mohamed Siad Barre,
the cold war dictator, was overthrown and since then the country has known
nothing but anarchy.
European Union sources in Brussels, highlighting the danger of an all-out war
in the Horn of Africa, yesterday distanced themselves from the US policy of
outright opposition to the Islamists. "They have done what no one else has done
for 15 years - brought a measure of stability to the country," said a senior
European Commission official with responsibility for the region.
"We need a more balanced approach."
The Times
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