Somali Islamists tell Ethiopia to leave or face war
Source: Reuters
(Adds Somali government reaction, skirmishes) By Sahal Abdulle MOGADISHU, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamist movement warned arch-foe Ethiopia on Tuesday to withdraw troops from the Horn of Africa nation within a week or face war. The Islamists, who dominate most of the south, say Ethiopia has at least 30,000 troops in Somalia near the provincial town of Baidoa, the base of the internationally recognised interim government. Ethiopia, the West and the United Nations back the government, but its power does not extend beyond Baidoa. "Starting today, if the Ethiopians don't leave our land within seven days, we will attack them and force them to leave our country," Islamist defence chief Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad "Inda'ade" told reporters in Mogadishu. Addis Ababa scoffed at the threat, while the United Nations urged the Islamists not to start a war that many have feared for months and which could spread across the region. "I hope they will not be the beginners of this. They should avoid statements that inflame an already critical situation," U.N. envoy to Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, told Reuters. The Islamists took Mogadishu and a swathe of south Somalia in June, threatening the fragile authority of the interim government of President Abdullahi Yusuf. Diplomats and witnesses say thousands of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border to protect Yusuf's government in and around Baidoa. But Addis Ababa only acknowledges sending several hundred armed military advisers. "The Islamic Courts are claiming the existence of Ethiopian troops inside of Somalia to attract international attention ... it's not based on fact," said Ethiopia spokesman Zemehun Tekele. At a news conference, Inda'ade, who is seen as a hardliner in the movement and has been given to inflammatory comments in the past, said there were between 30,000 and 35,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia. That was a considerably higher figure than most witnesses or regional diplomats estimate. TROOPS MASSING Of those, between 6,000 and 8,000 were in Baidoa, Inda'ade said. Another 1,500 were at the Ethiopia-Kenya border with 25 trucks seeking to reach Somalia via another route, he added. Officials from Yusuf's government said the Islamists, who have declared jihad against Ethiopia, would be to blame if full-scale conflict breaks out. "He (Inda'ade) has invited foreign terrorists in to what he called a jihad," Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle said in a statement. "We are telling the international community starting today if war breaks out, Inda'ade and his friends will bear the responsibility." At the weekend, there were two days of clashes between pro-government troops and Islamist fighters around Diinsoor, south of Baidoa, in which several people were killed. Forces from both sides were said by witnesses to be massing on Tuesday near the town of Tiyeglow, 140 km (85 miles) northwest of Baidoa, in preparation for a possible clash. And witnesses also reported shooting during skirmishes on Tuesday between reconnaissance parties from both sides on the road east of Baidoa near Buur Hakaba. Troops were said to be bedding in just a few kilometres (miles) apart. With Ethiopian foe Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists by sending arms and military advisers -- a claim Asmara denies -- many fear the Somali crisis could flare into a regional war. The Arab League, mediating government-Islamists talks in Sudan, said a meeting set for Friday looked unlikely but efforts were being made to bring the sides together before Dec. 20. (Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne in Nairobi and Cynthia Johnston in Cairo)
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