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Saturday, June 20, 2009
ADDIS ABABA (ST) — Ethiopia said on Saturday it would only intervene militarily in Somali to support the besieged transitional government if it has a clear international mandate.
"Any further action from Ethiopia regarding Somalia will be done according to international community decision," said the Ethiopian Communications Minister adding "We are following the situation very closely and wait for any answer from the international community."
The minister Bereket Simon made this statement after a call launched by the Somalia’s parliament speaker earlier Saturday asking neighboring countries to deploy troop to back the fragile government in Mogadishu.
Speaking to reporters in the capital Mogadishu Saturday, Somali Parliament Speaker Sheik Aden Mohamed Nur said the government is weakened by the Islamist insurgency.
"We ask neighboring countries — including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen — to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours," he added. Al-Shebab insurgents, who control much of southern Somalia, have intensified attacks against the Somali government during the last weeks. On Thursday they killed the security minister Omar Hashi Aden in a suicide car bomb attack with at least 30 other people.
They also killed an MP in northern Mogadishu on Friday.
The Somali cabinet in a statement issued on Saturday has unanimously declared that the country is in a state of emergency.
The speaker explained his call saying "We’ve been forced to make this request because of the escalating violence. Those fighting the government are being led by a (former) Pakistani army general; they are burning the flag and killing people."
Ethiopia announced last January the withdrawal of its troops from the troubled country where it was during two year. At the time Ethiopia said troops will remain stationed at the border ready to re-intervene if the political situation is deteriorated or the Islamists control again the Somali capital.
The Eritrea’s backed Islamists fighters of Al-Shebab are seen by Addis Ababa as a danger for its national security. Different reports speak about discreet Ethiopian troops presence among the Somali factions backing the government.
Al-Shebab said today Ethiopian troops crossed the border and reached Elberdi town in Bakol region in southern Somalia.
Security experts fear that Somalia and Yemen could be the new havens for Al-Qaeda members who are facing important US attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are speculations that bin Laden’s men are seeking a less risky refuge for their anti-Western campaign.
Source: Sudan Tribune, June 20, 2009