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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Nov 09 2010 - 12:05:41 EST
Ethiopia rebels say killed 267 soldiers, govt denies
Tue Nov 9, 2010 4:28pm GMT
* Rebels in potential oil/gas region claim 34 attacks
* Government calls ONLF statement "outright lies"
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - An Ethiopian rebel group said on Tuesday it
had killed 267 soldiers since the beginning of October, in its first such
claim since the government signed a peace deal with one its factions last
month.
The Ethiopian government denied the claim.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) wants more autonomy for the
country's mainly ethnic-Somali Ogaden region and has warned foreign
companies exploring for oil and gas to stay away or face attack.
Firms, including Petronas [PETR.UL] and Vancouver-based Africa Oil
Corporation (AOI.V: <http://af.reuters.com/stocks/quote?symbol=AOI.V>
Quote), are working in the Ogaden. Petronas has asked for government
approval of a deal to sell all its oil and gas concessions to locally-owned
SouthWest Energy (H.K.) Ltd.
Commercial amounts of oil and gas have not yet been extracted.
"The ONLF army is continuing its offensive against Ethiopian Army troops in
the Ogaden," the faction led by former Somali navy chief Admiral Mohamed
Omar Osman said in a statement, detailing dates and places of attack.
"During the months of October and the beginning of November it has conducted
34 tactical and strategic military operations, killing 267 Ethiopian Army
soldiers and wounding 157."
"OUTRIGHT LIES"
Ethiopian government spokesman, Shimeles Kemal, described the statement as
"the usual outright lies."
Regular claims of attacks from the rebels and denials from the government
are hard to verify as journalists cannot travel in the region without
government escorts.
The Ethiopian government signed a peace deal last month with an ONLF faction
led by Selahadin Mao that claims to represent 80 percent of the group's
fighters.
The Osman group claimed responsibility for a 2007 attack on an oil
exploration field owned by a subsidiary of China's Sinopec Corp (0386.HK:
<http://af.reuters.com/stocks/quote?symbol=0386.HK> Quote) that killed 65
Ethiopian soldiers and nine Chinese oil workers.
Analysts say the rebels have been weakened since 2007 and, while not capable
of ousting the government, can frustrate development with hit-and-run
attacks. (Editing by George Obulutsa and Ralph Boulton)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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