U.S. signals support for Ethiopia in Somalia
Source: Reuters
(Adds comments from State Department, Pentagon) By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday signaled support for Ethiopia's military offensive in Somalia, saying Addis Ababa had reasons for concern about the country's internal warfare. The White House urged restraint by Ethiopia but also said the intervention should not be used as an excuse by Somalia's warring factions to avoid peace negotiations. "Ethiopia has genuine security concerns with regard to developments within Somalia," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. Johndroe added that Ethiopian forces were there "at the request" of Somalia's interim government, which wants to break the stronghold of the Islamic Courts Council on southern Somalia and Mogadishu. Ethiopian and Somali government troops were advancing toward the capital of Mogadishu, which was seized by the Islamists in June. Ethiopia sent tanks to Mogadishu this week and used warplanes to strike Islamist-held airports, formally declaring war against Somalia's Islamists. Highlighting U.S. concern about the conflict, President George W. Bush spoke on Tuesday to Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni about Somalia. State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos urged all parties to uphold a Dec. 6 U.N. Security Council resolution backing African peacekeepers to help prop up Somalia's interim government. It also called on the government and its Islamic rivals to pursue peace talks. "We're working all parties. We're working with all the regional states: Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti and others. We're having dialogue with Somali clerics, business leaders, clan elders, civic society," Gallegos said. "The heart of (the UN resolution) is this idea that we must get to a situation where the Somalis can come together, where they can continue this dialogue they began and build on that," he added. The United States has accused the Islamic movement of harboring al Qaeda operatives and has warned that Ethiopia as well as Kenya could be targets of extremist elements from Somalia. The Islamic Courts movement claims broad popular support and says its aim is to restore order to Somalia after years of warlord rule and anarchy. An editorial in the Washington Post on Wednesday warned that parts of Somalia controlled by the Islamists were beginning to look like Afghanistan under the Taliban before the Sept. 11 attacks. The Post said the Bush administration probably would have to prepare for much more active U.S. engagement "in what is emerging as a hot new front in the war on terrorism." The United States provides training to Ethiopia's police and military for border and coastal security and counter-terrorism efforts. However, a U.S. defense official said U.S. troops were not involved in or advising Ethiopia on its offensive in Somalia. Washington has struggled to find a coherent approach to Somalia and remains haunted by the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident in which 18 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of Somalis were killed in a mission to pacify the country. This year, a covert counter-terrorism initiative in which the United States gave support to secular warlords fighting Islamists in Mogadishu backfired. Support for the Islamists grew after the U.S. backing of the warlords became public. (Additional reporting by Kristin Roberts and Paul Eckert)
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