Calls for war against Ethiopia

2006-07-21 20:43

Baidoa - The leader of Somalia's Islamic fighters have called on all Somalis on Friday to wage holy war on Ethiopia, a day after Ethiopian troops rolled into Somalia to protect the weak UN-backed government the Islamic group has challenged for power.

Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, in a radio broadcast, said Ethiopia deployed troops to the government's base in Baidoa, 240km northwest of Mogadishu, to bolster what he described as a puppet regime.

He said President Abdullahi Yusuf, his long-time rival, has "been a servant of Ethiopia for a long time".

"I am calling on the Somali people to wage a holy war against Ethiopians in Baidoa," said Aweys, who the US government says has ties to al-Qaeda, on Radio Shabelle.

"They came to protect a government which they set up to advance their interests."

The Islamic group organised anti-Ethiopian demonstrations in the capital on Friday, and militiamen shot dead two people who joined a daring counter-demonstration against Islamic rule.

Residents of Baidoa reported seeing hundreds of Ethiopian troops, in uniform and in marked armoured vehicles, entering Baidoa on Thursday and taking up positions around President Yusuf's compound.

Ethiopian and Somali government officials have denied Ethiopian troops are in the country, though witnesses from five towns have reported seeing them.

State beholden to country's enemy

Reliance on Ethiopia appears to make the government obliged to the country's traditional enemy and hurts its legitimacy.

Anti-Ethiopia sentiment still runs high in much of this almost entirely Muslim country, which is why the government and Ethiopia, a mostly Christian nation, may want to keep the troop deployment quiet.

The neighbouring countries are traditional enemies, although Somalia's president has asked Ethiopia for its support.

Demonstrators in Mogadishu shouted anti-Ethiopian and anti-US slogans as they marched in the capital, accompanied by dozens of Islamic militiamen and trucks mounted with heavy weapons.

Radical Islamic militia later shot dead two people when a rare demonstration broke out against the rulers of Mogadishu.

"We don't want Islamic movements!" shouted the protesters before they were dispersed by fatal gunfire, reported the Banabir radio station.

Residents of Baidoa appeared unfazed by the presence of Ethiopian troops. Tensions sparked by fears of attacks by Islamic militants eased on Friday in the town.

Curbing Islamic militia's increasing power

Ethiopia's move could give the internationally recognised Somali government its only chance of curbing Islamic militia's increasing power.

However, the incursion could also be just the excuse militiamen, who control the capital and most of the rest of southern Somalia, need to build public support for a revolutionary war.

If the competition for power should become violent, there is little doubt that Ethiopia has the superior fighting force. Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia in 1993 and 1996 to get rid of Islamic militants attempting to establish a religious government.

The US urged Ethiopia on Thursday to exercise restraint and said European Union, US, African Union, Arab League and others in an international contact group on Somalia will meet soon to consider the unstable situation.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concerns about the increased tensions near Baidoa and urged dialogue.

- AP