From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Aug 19 2008 - 09:34:39 EDT
Somalia's Opposition Vows to Unite, Fight Ethiopians (Update1)
By Hamsa Omar
Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Somali Islamic insurgents fighting a United
Nations-backed transitional government have pledged to unite rival factions
to drive Ethiopian troops from the east African nation, a spokesman for the
rebel group said.
The Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia split in June when a moderate
faction led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed signed a deal with the interim government
in Djibouti, agreeing that attacks would stop in 30 days and UN peacekeepers
would replace Ethiopian troops within four months. The accord was rejected
by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an Islamist leader regarded by the U.S. as a
terrorist linked to al-Qaeda.
Differences between the leaders of the Islamic Courts Union ``will end
soon,'' Abdilkadir Ali Omar, the deputy chairman of the group, said
yesterday in a teleconference with journalists in the capital, Mogadishu.
``We will continue fighting against the Ethiopian forces who invaded our
homeland aggressively until they withdraw from our country.''
Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006 to help the transitional
government oust Islamic militias from southern and central parts of the
country. Violence between rebels and government troops has intensified since
then.
Somalia hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991
removal of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.
The transitional government and ARS representatives agreed at a meeting
yesterday in neighboring Djibouti to halt all fighting and pledged to
implement the June peace agreement, the government said in a communiqué.
`Inflammatory Statements'
``The parties agreed to continue the political dialogue between themselves
and refrain from making inflammatory statements,'' it said. ``They
reaffirmed their commitment to cease all armed confrontation and to
establish sub committees to implement the arrangements to that end.''
Meanwhile, Ethiopia denied its soldiers were responsible for attacks on
minibuses last week that killed at least 40 civilians. The authorities in
Addis Ababa blamed the Islamic al- Shabaab militia for planting a
remote-controlled bomb under one of the vehicles, killing 11 passengers.
A local doctor and eyewitnesses said on Aug. 16 the minibus passengers died
after Ethiopian soldiers opened fire on the vehicles. The attack occurred in
Arbiska, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu.
``It was the Al-Shabaab bombing of the bus that caused the deaths of
passengers, not fire from Ethiopian soldiers,'' the government said in a
statement posted on its Web site today.
Five civilians died in a shootout between the Islamic militants and
Ethiopian and Somali government soldiers, it said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Hamsa Omar in Mogadishu via
Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net; Karl Maier in Rome at
kmaier2@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 19, 2008 05:11 EDT
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