Somalian Islamists blame peace talks’ failure on Ethiopia

Nov 2, 2006 (MOGADISHU) — A leading member of the Islamist militia that controls much of Somalia said Thursday peace talks with the government collapsed this week because of the administration’s ties to Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation, backs Somalia’s two-year-old acting government, which has failed to exert any influence outside its base in the western city of Baidoa. Somalia’s government has watched helplessly since June as the Islamists took over the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the country’s south.

“We cannot negotiate with the government while an Ethiopian gun is on our temples,” Abdirahman Janaqow, deputy chairman of Somalia’s Council of Islamic Courts, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Government officials refused to comment Thursday until the delegation returned from Khartoum, Sudan.

Also Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, warned U.S. citizens of reports that “extremist elements” within Somalia have issued threats targeting Kenya, Ethiopia and surrounding countries. The embassy said “these threats specifically mention the execution of suicide explosions in prominent landmarks within Kenya and Ethiopia.”

U.N. officials have said thousands of Ethiopian soldiers are defending Baidoa, but Ethiopia says it has only several hundred “military trainers” in Somalia to provide expertise to the interim government.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, plunging the country into anarchy.

The interim government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help in the hope of restoring order after years of bloodshed.

The latest round of peace talks between the government and the Islamist group, which were meant to begin Monday in Khartoum, never got off the ground, with delegates from both sides refusing to leave their hotel rooms. Mediators from the Arab League called off the talks indefinitely Wednesday.

(AP)