Militant vows to bear 'corpses'
2006-07-25 07:35
Mohamed Sheikh Nor
Mogadishu - A top official in Somalia's Islamic militia said he would produce "corpses or POWs" to prove that neighbouring Ethiopia had sent soldiers across the border to protect Somalia's weak government.
Ethiopian and Somali government officials denied that Ethiopian troops had entered Somalia, despite widespread witness accounts that the soldiers arrived four days ago to help ward off Islamic militants who had been accused of links to al-Qaeda.
Sheik Muqtar Robow, deputy defence chief for the Islamic group, said: "The Ethiopians have denied the occupation in our land, but we shall show the world corpses or POWs from their ranks."
Ethiopia, a largely Christian country, was the long-time enemy of Somalia, which was mostly Muslim.
President Yusuf 'allied with Ethiopia'
Somali government leaders might be reluctant to acknowledge that the Ethiopians had come to their aid because they didn't want to appear beholden to a traditional adversary.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf was allied with Ethiopia and had asked for its support.
Anti-Ethiopian sentiment ran high during the rally organised by the Supreme Islamic Courts Council militia, which seized control of the capital, much of the rest of southern Somalia after months of bloody battles.
More than 5 000 enraged Somalis packed a stadium in the capital, Mogadishu, burned an Ethiopian flag and carried signs that said, "We Must Fight Them!"
Amina Hagi, a mother of four in Mogadishu, where anti-Ethiopian sentiment ran high, said: "I came here to show that the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia is illegal."
New govt 'linked to violence'
Somalia had been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and later turned on each other, carving much of the country into armed camps ruled by violence and clan law.
A new government, which included some warlords linked to the violence of the past, was established two years ago with the support of the United Nations.
But the body wielded no real power, had no military and only operated in Baidoa, 240km from Mogadishu.
The Islamic militia stepped in and seized control of most of southern Somalia - prompting grave concerns in the United States, which accused the group of harbouring al-Qaeda leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Somali witnesses in several towns reported seeing them cross from Ethiopia four days ago and entered Baidoa, the only town held by the government, after the Islamic militia moved within striking distance of the town. Ethiopian troops also were spotted in nearby Wajid.
Solomon Abebe, spokesperson for the Ethiopian ministry of foreign affairs, refused to address the witness accounts of Ethiopian troops, but lashed out at the Islamic militia's leader, calling Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys "scum" and a terrorist.
- AP