[dehai-news] (AFP) Ethiopian military commitment to Somalia not open-ended, PM says


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From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Aug 28 2008 - 12:13:42 EDT


Ethiopian military commitment to Somalia not open-ended, PM says

August 28, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Ethiopia's military commitment to Somalia is not
open-ended, and it has to balance its responsibilities in Mogadishu
with domestic political priorities, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in
an interview published Thursday.
Speaking to the Financial Times,
Meles said Ethiopia was "not joined at the hip" with Somalia, and added
that a stronger and more effective Somali government was "not
necessarily a precondition for our withdrawal".
The Ethiopian
prime minister insisted, however, that Ethiopia would do all it could
to help stabilise Somalia's interim government
"Our obligation towards peace in Somalia is only one aspect," Meles said.
"There
are also requirements of our own, including financial requirements. The
operation has been extremely expensive so we will have to balance the
domestic pressures on the one hand and pressures in Somalia on the
other and try to come up with a balanced solution."
Ethiopia sent
troops into neighbouring Somalia in late 2006 after a request from the
beleaguered transitional government in Mogadishu, and ousted an
Islamist militia which controlled large parts of the Horn of Africa
country.
The Islamists, however, have since reverted to guerilla
tactics and have been targeting Somali government forces, Ethiopian
soldiers and African Union peacekeepers almost daily.
Civilians
have borne the brunt of the fighting. According to international aid
organisations and rights groups, at least 6,000 have died over the past
year alone.
Asked by the FT where Ethiopia's plans to stabilise
Somalia quickly had gone wrong, Meles blamed the international
community: "We didn't anticipate the international community would be
happy riding the Ethiopian horse and flogging it at the same time."
"We
had hoped and expected ... that the international community would
recognise that this was a unique opportunity for the stabilisation of
Somalia and capitalise on it."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQLRLIPbSqTsSOrfd9vc2htBgLYQ

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