Ethiopia target of 'holy war'

2006-07-20 21:57

Mogadishu - Somalia's Islamists declared a "holy war" on Thursday against Ethiopian troops crossing into the Horn of Africa nation, while Addis Ababa threatened to "crush" any attack on the interim government it supports.

The hostile rhetoric - along with this week's military moves on both sides - have increased fears of a new war in Somalia.

John Prendergast of the international crisis group think-tank said: "The risk of full-scale war increases by the day."

Islamists took the capital, Mogadishu, from US-backed warlords last month and are threatening the authority of a transitional administration formed in Kenya in 2004 and intended to steer the nation from anarchy to peace.

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a senior Islamist in charge of defence, said about 20 military vehicles from Ethiopia had crossed into Somalia at Dollow on Wednesday.

'Will wage a jihad'

That added to previous Islamist accusations that Ethiopia was pouring in troops to support Somalia's government against them.

"God willing, we will remove the Ethiopians in our country and wage a jihad against them," said Robow.

Analysts believe Addis Ababa has sent up to 5 000 troops into Somalia, and is massing more on the border to deter any more Islamist advances.

The regional power, Ethiopia backs the interim government of President Abdullahi Yusuf, which is based in the provincial town of Baidoa because it lacks the strength to move to Mogadishu.

Addis Ababa termed the jihad call "foolish and cheap propaganda" aimed at winning support from Muslim states.

Information ministry spokesperson Zemedhun Tekle said: "The Islamists' agenda is to topple the legally constituted federal transitional government of Somalia and destabilise Ethiopia."

Ethiopia denied incursions into Somalia, but threatened to "crush" any Islamist bid to take Baidoa or cross the border.

Analysts and Somali sources say the interim government has little military strength in its own right, beyond a small force loyal to Yusuf.

This was boosted by the recent arrival in Baidoa of several hundred fighters from defeated warlords.

In a war, the government would rely on Ethiopian support.

Stalled talks

Nominally Christian-led Ethiopia, which condemns the Islamist leaders as "terrorists", is fearful of having a hardline Muslim state on its doorstep.

It is also anxious about possible Islamist aspirations to establish a "Greater Somalia" which would incorporate Ethiopia's southeastern Ogaden region inhabited by ethnic Somalis.

Ethiopia sounded the alarm after Islamist militia moved from Mogadishu to Buur Hakaba - 60km from Baidoa - on Wednesday.

- Reuters