From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Aug 20 2009 - 14:41:46 EDT
Ethiopian Official Says Somali Militias Use Ethiopia to Attack Rebels By
Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
*20 August 2009*
Ethiopia has confirmed that pro-government militias from neighboring Somalia
are using Ethiopian territory as a base to launch attacks on rebel forces.
An Ethiopian spokesman lashed out at Horn of Africa rival Eritrea for its
role in the Somalia conflict.
Spokesman Bereket Simon says Ethiopia has not and will not stop its military
support to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, or TFG, in its fight
against a foreign-backed insurgency.
Bereket told reporters, pro-government Somali militias have permission to
use Ethiopia as a base of operations in attacking al-Shabab rebels, who
control large sections of southern Somalia.
"When the forces of the TFG attack al-Shabab and score victories, we don't
care from which geographical positions they start the attack," he said. "But
I assure you this is a Somali operation."
Bereket categorically denied persistent reports that Ethiopian troops are
actively engaged in Somalia's civil war.
Ethiopia's army entered Somalia in 2006 to drive out an al-Shabab backed
administration in Mogadishu, but encountered stiff opposition and withdrew
earlier this year.
Bereket says Ethiopia's military support mostly involves training forces
loyal to the UN-backed transitional government.
"We have been training, not only now, even when we had been in Somalia, we
have been training forces of the TFG, and we always train and we will
continue to train forces of the TFG because we believe these are forces of
peace and stability in Somalia," he continued.
Bereket had harsh words for Ethiopia's Horn of Africa rival Eritrea, which
the United States accuses of backing al-Shabab in Somalia. Eritrea denies
the charge, but Bereket described Eritrea as a regional troublemaker.
"The reality is that Eritrea currently is creating havoc around the Horn. We
all know this country is supplying arms to al-Shabab," he said. "We all know
this country is bent on weakening and destroying the TFG, which is the
legitimate government recognized by the United Nations."
Bereket also expressed satisfaction with this week's verdict of an
international commission settling claims arising from the war Ethiopia and
Eritrea fought from 1998 to 2000. Ethiopia had asked for $14 billion in
reparations, Eritrea had asked for $6 billion. The ruling handed down in The
Hague awarded Ethiopia $174 million, and Eritrea roughly $164 million.
In a statement, the commission said it was aware the awards were only a
small fraction of what each side had demanded of the other. But the
commissioners noted what they called 'the harsh fact that these countries
are among the poorest on earth, and that the full claims would have been
impossible for either side to pay.
Eritrea earlier said it would abide by the commission's decision.
The awards were the result of a complex arbitration that was part of a peace
agreement that ended the conflict. An estimated 80,000 people died in the
fighting, many in World War I-style trench warfare.
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