Ethiopia says keeping close watch on neighbour Somalia

June 24, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia said Saturday it was keeping a close watch on its neighbour Somalia, where Islamic militia have taken over the capital Mogadishu and accused Addis Ababa of sending troops to the country.

Addis Ababa, which has denied having troops in lawless Somalia, said it was girding for a possible attack by the Islamic militia who also seized control of key towns including Beledwein near the border with Ethiopia.

“Ethiopia will continue to observe closely the developments in Mogadishu and remain vigilant to protect its territory from any threat of crossing its border,” the government said in a statement.

Last week, Islamic clerics said several hundred Ethiopian troops had crossed into Somalia and were moving toward the headquarters of the Somali transitional government in Baidoa, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the capital.

The allegation came after fighters loyal to Mogadishu’s Islamic courts ousted a US-backed warlord alliance from the capital after four months of fighting that killed more than 360 people.

Ethiopia blamed the courts for causing chaos in Somalia.

“The havoc wreaked by an armed group calling itself Union of Islamic Courts has disrupted the relative peace gained in the past,” the statement said.

Somalia largely powerless interim government and the Islamic courts signed a mutual recognition deal this week that also called for the cessation of violence.

Somalia has been without a functional government since the ouster of former strongman Siad Barre in 1991 which plunged the country into anarchy and has been split into a patchwork of fiefdoms governed by unruly warlords.

(ST)