Ethiopia into Somalia: Ethiopia vows to 'crush' Somali Islamists amid incursion reports

[Leigh Meyers <leighcmeyers@xxxxxxxxx>]

> "[Insert Nation/Region variable here] has been wracked by lawlessness
> since dictator [Insert "dictator" variable here] was ousted in
> [yyyymmdd] and the country of about [nnnn] [Million/Billion/Other]
> people plunged into anarchic bloodletting."
.
AFP:
Ethiopia vows to 'crush' Somali Islamists amid incursion reports
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060722/ts_afp/somaliaunrestethiopia

by Abraham Fisseha
Sat Jul 22, 7:39 AM ET

Ethiopia has vowed to "crush" the powerful Somali Islamic courts, a day
after they threatened a holy war against Addis Ababa, which they accuse
of sending troops to protect Somalia's weak interim government.

The warning came Saturday as witnesses reported an incursion of
Ethiopian troops into a second Somali town close to Baidoa, the seat of
the country's toothless government, ostensibly to protect it from any
advance by the Islamists.

Residents in the town of Wajid, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of
the Somali-Ethiopian border, said about 250 heavily-armed Ethiopian
soldiers had arrived there early in the day.

"Ethiopian troops numbering about 250 arrived in Wajid town in Bakol
region," said local resident Ahmed Issa.

"They came in 30 armed vehicles and lorries," he added.

"The Ethiopian troops arrived early morning in Wajid, with heavily-armed
troops securing the area where they camped," another resident told AFP
on condition of anonymity.

But a district official in Wajid denied the presence of the troops.

At the same time, Addis Ababa vowed to "crush" the Islamic militia if
they dared cross into its territory.

"Ethiopia has made it clear on several occassions that there is a border
line they don't have to cross, if they do they will be crushed," a
senior government official told AFP on conditions of anonymity.

"I don't think they will dare to do anything as they know that there is
a force that can do what it says, a force that will crush anyone in the
real meaning of the word," added the official.

Ethiopia and the Somali government have denied any incursion by Addis
Ababa's troops despite numerous eyewitness accounts.

On Thursday and Friday residents of Baidoa, where the government sits
for fear of violent unrest in the capital Mogadishu, said they had also
spotted Ethiopian troops in their town after the government accused the
Islamic union of planning an attack.

Meanwhile, a senior Somali government official called for the
disarmament of the Islamists, saying they posed a threat to the
government that has been unable to extert its authority across the
country since relocating from exile in Kenya last year.

"The Islamic courts present a threat to the transitional federal
government if they are not disarmed," said the official who spoke on
condition of anonymity.

"Islamic courts are part of this community.... They have no right to
keep weapons," the official added.

On Friday, the leader of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS)
vowed a holy war against Ethiopia, a call some observers said was merely
populist rhetoric.

"To me the declaration of holy war seems a sign of frustration in order
to keep the momentum of the populist support," said Abebe Tadesse, a
Horn of Africa watcher.

"They have to tailor some kind of mechanism to keep the momentum of the
people's support," Abebe added.

However, in Mogadishu, residents rallied in support of SICS supreme
leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys in denouncing Ethiopia's move, with
some terming it a deliberate act of provocation.

"The incuirsion by Ethiopia is a deliberate act to provoke Somalia and
to further destabilise it," said Mahamoud Abdullahi, a former police
officer. "It is a move contrary to international law."

"The Ethiopian troops are killing their people inside Addis Ababa and
there is no way they will bring peace to Somalia," said Abdi Ali Hassan.

Tension between the Islamists and the government has undermined
prospects for peace talks between them, amid growing international
concern about a potential resurgence of fighting.

Somalia has been wracked by lawlessness since dictator Mohamed Siad
Barre was ousted in 1991 and the country of about 10 million people
plunged into anarchic bloodletting.

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