http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/28/us-ethiopia-somalia-idUSTRE7BR0E520111228
Troubled Ethiopia-Somalia history haunts Horn of Africa
Barry Malone
Reuters
NAIROBI | Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:42am EST
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Five hundred years ago, an Imam who ruled much of
what is now Somalia, led a daring invasion of Christian Ethiopia,
looting monasteries, burning down churches and slaying all who
resisted.
Centuries on, memories of Imam Ahmad Gragn still haunt both countries,
and echoes of that long and bloody history still ripple across the
Horn of Africa region which considers Somalia the greatest threat to
its stability.
Back then, the Ethiopians were beleaguered as the invaders occupied
some two-thirds of the country. Help eventually came in the form of
400 Portuguese musketeers, who sailed into Massawa port and embarked
on a six-day march to the front.
Gragn had his backers too. Reinforcements from Arabia soon rolled in
alongside a gift from the Ottoman Empire: 900 of its famously hardened
musket experts. The war lasted over a decade.
Fast forward to the present day, and with Ethiopian troops deploying
over the border again last month to fight Islamist rebels linked to al
Qaeda, the latest chapter of a book with few uplifting passages was
written.
Though present-day incursions and clashes are driven by strategic
motivations and regional politicking against the backdrop of the
global war on terror, those centuries-old grudges, raids and
musket-battles still shape events.
"In Ethiopia, the damage which Gragn did has never been forgotten,"
Ethiopia expert, Paul Henze, wrote in a book on the country's history,
Layers of Time.
"Every Christian highlander still hears tales of Gragn in his
childhood. I have often had villagers in northern Ethiopia point out
sites of towns, forts, churches and monasteries destroyed by Gragn as
if these catastrophes had occurred only yesterday."
Though Gragn's ethnicity is disputed by historians, Ethiopians know
his army was overwhelmingly manned by ethnic Somalis, and that stings.
DELICATE RELATIONS, COMPLEX HISTORY
Somalis, too, are haunted by past Ethiopian invasions.
Ethiopia and Somalia still hand-pick powerful allies keen to win clout
in the Horn of Africa.
Its location on the Gulf of Aden and its potential as a base for
militant Islam make it an ideal arena for proxy wars,
influence-peddling and diplomatic skullduggery.
The two countries - Ethiopia then supported by the Soviet Union and
Cuba and Somalia supported by the United States - fought one of their
many wars over Ethiopia's mainly ethnic-Somali Ogaden region in
1977-1978.
Ethiopia's victory was helped by some crack Cuban troops, a modern day
echo of the foreigners who helped in the sixteenth century. Since
then, Western and Eastern powers have switched allegiances, depending
on the politics of those in power.
These days, Ethiopia, seen as a critical bulwark against the rise of
Islamist militancy in the strategic region next to the world's busiest
shipping lanes, is Washington's main ally.
"An unstable Horn of Africa could have a destabilizing effect on the
world," a Western diplomat in the region told Reuters. "The U.S.,
Britain, China - and increasingly Turkey -are all trying to get a
foothold here for both security reasons and economic reasons. Ethiopia
makes the best ally right now."
But despite the leadership changes, and the temporary alliances in a
region that is no stranger to pragmatic politics, that old animosity
is playing out again.
ETHIOPIA. WHO ELSE?
At the centre of the latest episode between the two nations is the
Islamist rebel group, al Shabaab, which has declared holy war on the
still mostly-Christian Ethiopia, and threatened to launch suicide
attacks in its capital, Addis Ababa.
Neighboring Kenya sent troops across the border in October, unsettled
by a spate of security attacks it blamed on the militants, with the
aim of dismantling the rebels' networks.
Ethiopia watched closely, analysts say, unsure of whether the Kenyan
intervention would work. Finally, a month ago, with the Kenyans
stalled, its troops moved into Somalia to arm and train the
pro-government militia Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca (ASWJ).
Such is the delicacy, that Ethiopia has not admitted publicly to its
latest incursion despite scores of testimony from local witnesses,
elders and reporters.
"The knowledge of history as well as the unwillingness to hand al
Shabaab the propaganda coup, just when the terrorist group is
weakened, probably has a great deal to do with Ethiopia's reluctance
to do more than build up the capacity of local Somali allies like ASWJ
and to try to politically unite them in a common effort," J. Peter
Pham, Africa director with the Atlantic Council, told Reuters.
Until now, Ethiopia had seemed reluctant to get involved in Somalia
again after a 2006-2009 incursion to overthrow another Islamist group
that had taken over Mogadishu sparked such ire among some Somalis that
al Shabaab rose from its ashes.
This time, the Ethiopians say, their hand was forced.
"Somebody needed to go in and help. Somalia is the world's biggest
security problem and that threatens everybody," an Ethiopian official
told Reuters.
"We're aware that, for some Somalis, we are not the best choice and
that is why we are being careful. But, yet again, who else?"
(Editing by David Clarke and Maria Golovnina)
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Received on Wed Dec 28 2011 - 22:23:46 EST