Somali Islamists make war “inevitable”- Ethiopia

Nov 2, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia has warned that neighboring Somalia’s powerful Islamist movement was “making conflict inevitable” by refusing to meet the country’s weak government for peace talks.

In a blunt assessment of the situation in Somalia delivered a day after negotiations collapsed in Sudan, the Ethiopian foreign ministry blamed “extremist” Islamists for the failure of the talks and looming war.

“The extremists who are setting the tone are not for peace. Rather they are making conflict inevitable,” said ministry spokesman Solomon Abebe.

“From the peace talks, we can understand that the extremists are not serious about peace,” he told AFP.

Abebe accused the Islamists of deception by refusing to meet with the government until Ethiopian troops, who they alleged are in Somalia, withdraw.

“They have used it to buy time and their excuse is (a) lame excuse,” he said. He maintained that the Islamists had repeatedly violated two earlier accords with the government by continuing to expand their territory.

Solomon also chided the international community for failing to address the alleged threat posed by the Islamists, whose supreme leader is designated a “terrorist” by the United States for alleged Al-Qaeda links.

“The international community … didn’t take the challenge seriously,” he said.

Mainly Christian Ethiopia denies charges that it has thousands of soldiers in Somalia but acknowledges sending military advisers to help protect the weak interim government from the “jihadists,” whose rise some liken to that of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Earlier Thursday, the Islamists alleged Ethiopia had deployed at least 12,000 troops to areas around the government seat of Baidoa, where both sides are girding for battle and have been engaging in artillery duels for two days.

The Islamists have accused Ethiopia of declaring war on them and have themselves called for a “jihad” or holy war, against the Ethiopian troops said to be in Somalia.

The deteriorating situation has sparked fears of all-out war that could engulf the entire Horn of Africa region, drawing in Ethiopia and its arch-foe Eritrea, which is accused of supporting the Islamists.

(AFP)