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ADDIS ABABA, November 23, 2006 (Newswires/ AV):
Ethiopia has completed its preparations for a potential attack by
Islamic militants from neighbouring Somalia who have declared a holy
war on the country, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Thursday.
Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation, backs Somalia's two-year-old
acting government, which has failed to exert any real influence.
Somalia's increasingly powerful Council of Islamic Courts has
denounced interference by Ethiopia.
 Meles,
in a speech to parliament, said his first priority was to avoid
conflict with the Islamists, but "we can't simply close our eyes or
look the other way." The government "has completed this
preparation," he added.
Meles did not specify what preparations his country has made. He
acknowledges sending "military advisers" to Somalia, although he has
denied widespread witness reports that Ethiopian troops are in the
country.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when
warlords overthrew a dictator and then turned on each other. The
current administration was formed with the help of the U.N. two
years ago.
The Islamic Courts, meanwhile, have steadily gained ground since
taking over Mogadishu in June and now control much of southern
Somalia. The United States has accused the Islamic group of
sheltering suspects in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of the U.S.
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Heightening tensions in Somalia have raised fears of an all-out war
could engulf the wider region.
Experts have warned the country has become a proxy battleground for
Ethiopia and its longtime rival, Eritrea. Eritrea, which supports
the Islamic militia, broke away from Ethiopia in a 1961-1991 civil
war and fought a border war with its rival in 1998-2000.
In Mogadishu, senior members of the Supreme Islamic Council of
Somalia (SICS) met to plot strategy after Meles' address, delivered
as the Islamists claimed to have ambushed several Ethiopian military
convoys near the Somali government seat of Baidoa, AFP reported.
"If Ethiopia is ready for war, we are very ready for the defense of
our country," said SICS spokesman Abdurahim Ali Muddey. "But we urge
Ethiopia to refrain from its reckless, war-thirsty behavior.
"We are not a threat to Ethiopia, but the presence of its troops in
our homeland is a serious security risk to Somalia as well as
Ethiopia," he said. "The statement by the prime minister is a threat
to regional peace."
On Sunday and Tuesday, the Islamists said that holy warriors, or
mujahideen, had carried out attacks on Ethiopian military targets
around Baidoa, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of
Mogadishu, the only city held by the government, according to AFP.
An Ethiopian residing in London, Hailu Badasa, told Addis Voice that
Meles was trying to divert attention from the internal crisis that
followed the tyrant's defeat in the May 2005 elections. "The people
of Ethiopia are already at war with his tyrannical regime. Neither
the conflict with Eritreans nor Somalis is our war. Both of them
were his former sponsors that armed him to destabilise Ethiopia. A
war for domination with is former sponsors is his war, not ours," he
said.
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11:00 GMT
