Ethiopia is not in war against Islam – PM Zenawi
Jan 24, 2007 (DOHA) — The Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told an Arab Satellite Television that Ethiopian army intervened in Somalia aimed to eliminated a terrorist group, adding that Arab should not understand that it was not a crusade war against Islam.
Meles Zenawi told the Al-Arabiyah TV that he sent messages to Arab leaders to explain that Ethiopia is after a group of terrorist and the Islamic courts do not represent Islam. He also explained to the Arab leaders that their intervention would be limited in the time and objectives and has nothing against the independence of Somalia.
He also said that US Administration advised him to avoid military action against the Somali courts, because Washington “did not at all believe that we could carry out such a successful operation” he said. Nonetheless he disclosed that Ethiopia has an agreement with the Americans to exchange intelligence information.
Below is the text of an interview with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on the Ethiopian military intervention in Somalia with the Al-Arabiyah Television on January 20, 2007.
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Asked if Ethiopia is now “bogged down in the Somali mud,” Zenawi says: “The problem which we faced before our intervention was represented by the Islamic Courts, which were controlled by a group of extremists linked to Al-Qaeda and they declared war on Ethiopia. They decided to gather in one state all the people who speak the Somali language in Africa – Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. They refused to hold negotiations with the interim government of Somalia. Therefore, they posed a direct and real threat to Ethiopia. We have now put an end to this threat as a result of our military intervention. I do not say Somalia is completely stable now, but if we compare the challenge we faced before our intervention with the current challenge, we will find that the current one is insignificant. Also our security has improved as a result of our intervention.”
ROLE OF US IN SOMALIA WAR
On whether the US played a role in the Somali war, he says: “We did not get or ask for a green light from anybody. It is very clear that the Americans, like us, were worried that the leaders of the Islamic Courts were terrorists and had links with Al-Qaeda.
“Before our intervention, the Americans said that if we intervened we would be bogged down in Somalia and face the same problems they are facing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Therefore, they advised us to avoid starting a conflict as much as possible. They did not at all believe that we could carry out such a successful operation.” He adds: “Before our intervention, the Americans’ stance was ambiguous. They were worried that we would face difficulties in Somalia, but we have an agreement with the Americans to exchange intelligence information. During the war, they provided us with all the intelligence information they had. There was full cooperation between us, but they neither participated nor financed the military operation. They only trained some of our small units. The other units were trained by Ethiopians. Our equipment is Russian and Chinese; we do not have US equipment. All our planes, helicopters and tanks are from Russia and China. Accordingly, they did not take part in the operations militarily or financially. They only extended intelligence information and supported our operations diplomatically. This is all they did.
“It was a purely Ethiopian operation for purely Ethiopian objectives.”
“MESSAGE” TO ARAB WORLD
Asked about the message Ethiopia sent to the Arab leaders through the Ethiopian foreign minister, Zenawi says: “The message we wanted to convey to our Arab brothers consisted of two points. The first was that we wanted them to understand that it was not a crusade war against Islam.”
He adds: “We wanted to tell our Arab brothers that we are after a group of terrorists. The Islamic Courts do not represent Islam. The second point we wanted to convey to them was that we do not at all object to the independence and sovereignty of Somalia and our intervention will only be for a short and limited period of time. We will withdraw as soon as we accomplish our mission.” He then says the Arab leaders understood the reasons “which prompted Ethiopia to intervene” and “we were very happy with the results”.
On the cost of Ethiopian war in Somalia, Zenawi says: “Well, the Ethiopian army does not cost much and it does not have high-tech equipment.” He adds that the cost of war in Somalia was completely covered by the Ethiopian government, but the total cost has still not been counted. He then says: “The cost was high and this will have an impact on our budget, but we would have had to pay a higher price if we had not intervened.”
“TERRORISTS”
Asked if “terrorists” were arrested in Somalia and if so what their number and nationalities were, Zenawi says: “Well, a large number of non-Somalis were killed or arrested in Somalia.” He adds: “We believe that some of their leaders were killed while others were arrested. Most of them carried European passports but they were originally from the Middle East.” Continuing, he says that some of those arrested came from Ethiopia and the region and their names would not be announced before the end of investigation.
Asked if Ethiopia has evidence of Eritrean support for the Islamic Courts, Zenawi says every Somali citizen will say when asked that Eritrea trained and supported the “terrorist leaders of the Islamic Courts”. He adds: “We killed a number of Eritrean soldiers and some reporters saw dead Eritrean soldiers in Somalia and they reported this. We collected much information. Once again, I want to say that we will not divulge this information pending the conclusion of investigation. We will then announce all the results of investigation, including information on Eritrean participation and the participation of international terrorists.”
Told that the US air force attacked some areas in southern Somalia, and asked if that was coordinated with Ethiopia, Zenawi says the US military operation in southwestern Somalia targeted a group of 20 persons led by “known terrorists” after being told by Ethiopia that its forces needed hours to reach and destroy that group in that thickly wooded area. He adds that the Americans decided to use their aircraft without any delay for fear that the group might flee the area. Continuing, he says eight of the “terrorists” were killed and five were wounded and the rest took to their heels.
ERITREAN ROLE
Asked if it is true that the Somali war was launched to settle scores between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Zenawi denies this and says the Eritreans “are our brothers and there is no need for us to fight.” He adds: “We have to solve our problems with them through negotiations. We appealed to the Eritrean government to sit with us to solve our problems through dialogue. We asked for this several times, but the Eritrean government rejected that. If the Eritrean government wants to fight, Ethiopia and Eritrea have a common border that is more than 1,000 km long and it can fight us there. They do not have to endure the hardship of going to Somalia, with which they do not have a common border, in order to fight Ethiopia.”
Continuing, he says: “If they want to solve their problems with us peacefully, we will welcome that. However, if they want to fight us, there are long borders of more than 1,000 km between us.” He adds: “They cooperated with the terrorists in Somalia to fight us through them there.”
ETHIOPIAN ROLE
Responding to a question on the date of the Ethiopian forces’ withdrawal from Somalia and asked if some Ethiopian units will be left there after withdrawal, Zenawi says: “Well, we want to withdraw as soon as possible, but the interim government of Somalia and the people in Mogadishu asked us not to withdraw before we find an alternative to support the interim government and help it carry out its security tasks. We will help the Somali government as much as we can but we cannot stay there for a long time for two reasons. First because we promised our people and the Somali people that we will withdraw when the mission is accomplished. We announced this clearly and we have to fulfil our promises. Second, we cannot from the financial point of view stay there for a long time.
“Ethiopia is a poor country and we have spent much money. Moreover, Ethiopian blood was spilled in the Somali operation. We cannot pay more and we will withdraw within weeks but in stages. During the first stage we will withdraw some troops and in the second we will withdraw more of them. In the meantime, we will try to train and equip the interim government forces. We also hope that the African Union will send peacekeeping forces. Before we withdraw, we will make sure that no security vacuum is created in Somalia, but we will not stay there for a long time.” He adds: “There is a time limit beyond which we cannot stay in Somalia and that is a matter of weeks rather than months.”
Asked about Ethiopian efforts to rally political support and humanitarian aid to Somalia, he says: “On the political front, we concentrated on encouraging the Somalis to embark on an internal dialogue. On the diplomatic level, we asked the international community to help. The Americans and the EU have promised to finance the peacekeeping operation and send aid, but no funds have thus far reached the Somalis. I would like to seize this opportunity to ask the brothers and sisters in the Arab world, who can help the Somali people, to extend financial assistance, equipment, and medical supplies. The Somali people need all the help they can get.”