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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Sep 25 2010 - 18:43:17 EDT
The Ethiopian factor in Mogadishu anarchy
By JUMA KWAYERA
Sunday, 26th September 2010
In all the political crises Somalia has gone through, Ethiopia remains the
constant factor. With the Somali conflict forever looking to spread to other
countries, pressure is now piling on the United States and the UN Security
Council to review relations with Addis Ababa, which is accused of stoking
the conflict for self-preservation.
Political experts blame Ethiopian rulers for persistently meddling in Somali
affairs to keep power and in the process fuelling the conflict that has
roped the Horn of Africa and other countries that use the Red Sea for
international trade.
Deputy Speaker of Kenya's National Assembly, Maalim Farah, who led a
parliamentary delegation on a fact-finding mission Somaliland early this
year, says Ethiopia should be tamed if peace is to be restored in the
troubled Horn of Africa nation.
Since 1960, Ethiopia and Somalia have engaged militarily more than six times
with either government sponsoring insurgency against the other. The latest
episode was early this month.
Farah says the United States, which backs Addis Ababa militarily,is under
obligation now to review its policies in eastern Africa.
"The governing elite in Ethiopia have destroyed opposition and the Somali
conflict provides Addis Ababa with reason to commit atrocities in Somalia as
a way of self-preservation. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi wants to diminish
Somalia," says the Deputy Speaker.
Farah's position that Ethiopia be held to account on the Somali conflict
ties in with a US Congressional report that questions Washington's continued
military support for Ethiopia, which has the largest standing force in
sub-Saharan African. With standing army estimated to be 800,000 - largest in
Sub-Saharan Africa - Ethiopia receives $2 billion (Sh160 billion) per annum
worth of military support, but the money is used to destabilise Somalia,
which in turn feeds insurgency.
Under-equipped
The amount of money contrasts sharply with less than $15 million the US
gives to Amisom, which is under-equipped militarily to deal with the
multifaceted threats of insurgency, terrorism, piracy, food insecurity, and
abuse of human rights.
According to Farah: "Ethiopia is perceived historically as a force of
occupation since the era of Emperor Menelik to Emperor Haile Selassie.
Successive Ethiopians regimes have been behind the radicalisation of Somalis
from moderate Muslims to extremists. Ethiopia is traditionally ruled by a
minority clique of psychopaths who are ever worried of being dislodged from
power by popular uprising."
The Deputy Speaker says the Somali conflict can be resolved on multiple
fronts including withdrawal or cutback of military support for Addis Ababa,
support democratic initiatives in Ethiopia, and dialogue with the
protagonists in the conflict.
US Congressional Committee on International Relations, Foreign Affairs,
Defence and Trade Division in its report, Current Conditions and Prospects
for a Lasting Peace, chaired by congressman Ted Dagne takes almost a similar
view.
US involvement
In its assessment of US involvement in Somalia and the Horn of Africa in
general, the committee found that Washington made an error of judgement by
rallying behind a group of warlords that purported to be anti-terrorism and
overlooked the popular Islamic Courts Union (ICU).
"The surge in violence was between militia loyal to the Islamic Courts and a
self-proclaimed anti-terrorism coalition backed by powerful local warlords.
The fighting received unusual attention in Somalia and in the region due, in
large part, to reports that the warlords were backed by the United States
Government," the report says of former Bush Administration.
After the US Marines were killed and their bodies dragged in the streets by
former warlord Farah Maalim Aideed's militiamen in 1993, Washington and the
United Nations have opted to stay clear of the crisis that poses a major
threat to international security more than other ongoing conflict in the
world today.
Says Kenya's former ambassador to Somalia, Mohammed Affey: "US policies
influence UN resolutions . American attitude is the biggest challenge the UN
faces in Somalia. We hope Kenya will take advantage of its connection with
President Barack Obama to persuade the US to get more involved."Affey, a
Nominated MP, notes that, although Kenya's policies in trying to win over
Somalia have been positive, they have not been matched by international
efforts.
"However, the engagement should be at the Executive level rather than living
it with the ministry of Foreign Affairs," he says.
This is how Maalim, views the situation: "Because of the strategic
significance of Eritrea, the US has for a long time wanted to set up a
military base in Kagnew and Massawa seaports as its listening outposts to
the conflict in the Middle East. A shift of attention bodes ill for
Ethiopia, which would be overlooked in terms of disbursement of military and
other logistical support."
He explains that the Amhara-Tigray minority, who throughout history used to
say they are an island of Christians among Muslims and barbarians -- in
reference to indigenous inhabitants -- are propagating the same religious
ideology inherited from the 18th and 19thcentury Semitic jingoists. They
committed atrocities under the guise of protecting the regimes of Emperor
Menelik, Emperor Towodros, Emperor Yohannes, and Emperor Haile Selassie.
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