Posted on 12/21/2006 3:40:07 PM PST by blam
Somalis 'at war' with Ethiopia
The government is getting military help from Ethiopia
The leader of the Union of Islamic Courts, which controls the capital and much of southern Somalia, says they are in a state of war with Ethiopia. "All Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said from Mogadishu.
Fresh heavy fighting is reported near the weak Somali government's Baidoa base, amid fears conflict could plunge the entire Horn of Africa into crisis.
Local residents say Ethiopian troops are clashing with Islamist militias.
Ethiopia denies its forces are battling the advancing Islamist militias.
The two countries have a long history of troubled relations, and Islamists have long called for a holy war against Ethiopian troops in Baidoa.
Both the Islamist and interim government agreed to a ceasefire and to unconditional talks on Wednesday after meetings with a visiting European Union envoy.
But there has been no let up on the ground, with heavy artillery and mortar fire heard in Daynunay, some 20 km (12 miles) from Baidoa where the government has a military base.
Local media report bodies strewn along streets. Both sides claim to have killed and wounded dozens of fighters.
Talks
Somalia's Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle told reporters in Baidoa that 71 Islamic fighters had been killed and 221 injured so far during clashes in three locations.
Louis Michel pressed both sides to resume negotiations
But in Mogadishu, UIC official Sheik Mohamud Ibrahim Suley claimed his fighters had killed 70 fighters, mainly Ethiopian troops.
Neither claim can be independently verified.
As the shelling continued close to Baidoa, Mr Aweys urged all Somalis to take up the struggle against Ethiopia.
"If you cannot fight you can contribute in other ways to the effort," he said.
After talks in Baidoa and Mogadishu on Wednesday, EU envoy Louis Michel announced both parties had agreed to resume efforts to find a negotiated settlement of their differences.
A nine-point memorandum of understanding included agreement to begin talks again without preconditions, he said.
The UIC set aside a demand that Ethiopian troops withdraw from Somalia as a precondition for talks, Mr Michel added, although it remained a major grievance.
Mr Michel has urged both sides to begin talks as soon as possible, at the latest early in January.
Are you near Baidoa? Send us your experiences Both sides have blamed each other for the fighting.
The UIC has introduced law and order to the capital and much of southern Somalia for the first time in 15 years and denies links to al-Qaeda.
Ethiopia has admitted to having some military trainers in Somalia, but our correspondent says that as he drove to the airport in Baidoa on Wednesday, he was stopped by a huge convoy of Ethiopian military armour.
The United Nations estimates that at least 8,000 Ethiopian troops may be in the country backing the government while regional rival Eritrea has deployed some 2,000 troops in support of the Islamic group.
Other countries are thought to have become involved in arming both sides.
The bastard IslamoNazi's are at war with everybody....May God be with those in their path....
Islam is on the move worldwide.. like a parasitical social disease..
This explains a story from Afghanistan that drew a lot responses here on FR.
"October 19, 2006: French special operations troops appear to be overcommitted, so 200 French commandos are being pulled from Afghanistan, where they have been since 2003, looking for terrorist leaders. France has already got a lot of operators operating across Africa. Apparently France is building up their special operations capability in Djibouti, possibly in anticipation of problems in Eritrea and Somalia, both of which are involved in disputes with Ethiopia. The Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad is pretty lucrative for Djibouti and France, and fighting between Ethiopia and either of its neighbors could create problems there. American Special Forces in Djibouti have a base near the main French one."
Possibly. We are supplying the Ethiopian forces involved.
Here are two countries where millions of people stand around in the hot sun until they topple over dead of starvation, yet they can find the money to wage war. Go figure.
I wonder if there are any Foriegn Legion troops in Ethiopia?
Well, because the warlords who stole many of the supplies sold them and do not want a bunch of Muslims telling them what to do.
I don't know.
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