Saturday, June 09, 2007
Ethiopia, the region's military powerhouse, was vital in helping the Somali government drive out Islamic radicals who ruled much of the country for six months last year. But Ethiopian troops here come under regular insurgent attacks.
Members of the U.N. Security Council are due to hold discussions on Somalia and Sudan this week in Addis Ababa, the African Union headquarters.
"My hope is that they will back the African Union in financial terms so that additional peace keeping troops could be deployed," Meles said. "The only thing hindering the deployment in Somalia is lack of funding."
Meles visited the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last week. He would not specify how many Ethiopian troops have been killed in the Somalia mission. Asked whether the figure was in the thousands, he said that was "out of range."
African Union peacekeepers who began arriving in March also have come under attack. The peacekeepers, from Uganda, are the first here in more than a decade. Other countries have promised to send troops but haven't done so.
Somalia descended into chaos in 1991, when warlords ousted a military dictator and then turned on one another.
Meles had not set foot in Mogadishu for years before his visit last week, but he does have a history here. Under the protection of Barre, Meles organized the rebellion that brought him to power from a base in Mogadishu.
Much of Somalia has been ruled by violence and clan law for years. The U.S. sent troops in 1992 as part of a U.N. relief operation for tens of thousands of starving civilians, but in 1993 clan militiamen shot down two Black Hawk helicopters and killed 18 American soldiers.
U.S. forces withdrew in 1994 and the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Somalia was eventually abandoned in 1995.
Somalia's government had struggled to survive since forming in 2004 with backing from the United Nations, and was sidelined by the radical Islamic group until Ethiopia's military intervened Dec. 24 and turned the tide.
But insurgents linked to the Islamic group, known as the Council of Islamic Courts, have launched a guerrilla war, saying the government is allowing Ethiopia to "occupy" the country. The U.S. has long accused the Islamic group of having ties to al-Qaida, which the council denies.
Source: AP, June 09, 2007