From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue May 19 2009 - 09:58:12 EDT
Witnesses: Ethiopian forces in Somalia
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Associated Press Writer
May 19th, 2009 | MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Ethiopian troops have crossed the
border into war-ravaged Somalia and appear to be stationing themselves
in a town at a strategic crossroads, witnesses said Tuesday.
The number of troops was not known, although a witness said he saw 12
military vehicles. It was not clear whether they were the vanguard of a
larger force or an attempt to protect their porous border from Islamic
insurgents.
There have been sporadic reports of Ethiopian troops crossing the border
since they pulled out of Somalia at the start of 2009 as part of a peace
deal.
Ethiopian troops originally entered the country in 2006 to restore the
U.N.-backed government to power in Mogadishu, which Islamist fighters
had seized along with much of southern Somalia. The Islamists were
outgunned by Ethiopian firepower but began an Iraq-style insurgency.
Fighting between the weak U.N.-backed government and Islamic insurgents
has intensified recently.
Witnesses said they saw the troops in the Somali town of Kalabeyr, 14
miles (22 kilometers) from the Ethiopian border and 11 miles (18
kilometers) north of Belet Weyne, the provincial capital of Somalia's
Hiran region. Kalabeyr lies at a strategic junction of a road that links
southern, central and northern Somalia to the Ethiopian border.
Local bus driver Farah Ahmed Adan said he saw 12 military vehicles.
"Some of them were digging trenches while others were guarding the whole
area," he said. "They stopped me and checked my car and then ordered me
to move."
Resident Tabane Abdi Ali said the troops spoke Ethiopia's Amharic
language and their vehicles carried Ethiopian number plates. Another
resident, Fadum Duale, said the troops crossed the border late on Monday
night and appeared to be taking up defensive positions.
Somali Information Minister Farhan Ali Mahmud would not comment on the
reports of Ethiopian troop arrivals. The government directly controls
only a few blocks of the capital, Mogadishu. Allied militias control
parts of central Somalia.
Islamist forces, strengthened by at least two defections of groups of
government soldiers, have attacked Somali forces in Mogadishu and seized
territory in central Somalia in recent days.
The U.S. State Department says some Somali insurgent leaders have links
to al-Qaida, and international observers fear an Islamist victory would
give terrorists a haven on the Horn of Africa, already menaced by Somali
pirates.
Ethiopian officials did not immediately return calls but typically do
not comment on military matters.
Any substantial movement of Ethiopian troops into Somali territory could
hand the Islamists a propaganda coup. They used nationalist and
religious rhetoric to help recruit fighters against the previous Somali
administration, portraying the Islamist cause as a defense of Somalia
against Ethiopian invaders, who are largely Christian.
The Somali parliament elected a new president earlier this year, Sheik
Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a former Islamist fighter who signed a peace deal
with the previous administration.
Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst at thinktank International Crisis Group,
said the president was in an untenable position -- without Ethiopian
support, his government might fall, but accepting it would hand the
insurgents a propaganda tool. The government commands around 3,300
troops and has a contingent of 4,350 African Union peacekeepers in the
capital.
"If he doesn't call on Ethiopian support, he can't expect the (African
Union) to slow down the insurgency. If he calls on the Ethiopians, he
can save his government from collapse but he plays into the hands of the
insurgents politically because they can use the intervention to portray
him as a puppet of the Ethiopians," Abdi said.
Although Ethiopia pulled its troops out, it remains eager to secure key
border towns and to preserve the current Somali government. The
insurgents have ethnic ties to Ethiopian rebels and believe that some
oil-rich Ethiopian territory should be part of a greater Somalia.
Somalia has not had a functioning government for 18 years and the
conflict is complicated by a tangled web of clan loyalties and the
involvement of both Ethiopia and its archenemy Eritrea. Ethiopian is a
U.S. ally and receives substantial military aid but American officials
have criticized Eritrea for allegedly providing arms to the insurgents.
Associated Press Writer Katharine Houreld in Nairobi, Kenya contributed
to this report.
http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/world/2009/05/19/D9899LCO0_af_somalia_ethi
opia/
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