words in the blog: December 2006

Friday, December 29, 2006

The Week in Review

Ethiopian troops ride on a military truck in Somali's capital Mogadishu December 29, 2006. Somalia's Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi swept into Mogadishu in an armoured convoy on Friday a day after his Ethiopian-backed forces drove Islamist rivals from the city they had ruled by sharia law since June. REUTERS/Sahal Abdulle (SOMALIA)

Ethiopian tanks are seen in Mogadishu airport on 29 December. Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops have clashed with Islamist fighters as they advanced on the final Islamist stronghold of Kismayo in the south of the country.

Monday - December 25, 2006

Tuesday - December 26, 2006

Wednesday - December 27, 2006

Thursday - December 28, 2006

Friday - December 29, 2006

The Week in Review

Monday - December 25, 2006

Tuesday - December 26, 2006

Wednesday - December 27, 2006

Thursday - December 28, 2006

Friday - December 29, 2006

Change of Tune - Ethiopian forces will stay as long as needed says Somali PM

Also in the news: [Foreign Troops Must Leave Somalia - Rep. Donald Payne] - [Somalia faces months of martial law] - [Eritrea and Ethiopia Top Africa in Army Sizes]

International: [Saddam Handed Over To Iraqi Officials] - [Cloned animals deemed safe to eat] - [Israel Won't Free Palestinian Prisoners] and more of today's top stories

Change of Tune - Ethiopian forces will stay as long as needed says Somali PM

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Somalia's Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi returned in an armed convoy one day after government forces and Ethiopian troops had forced Islamist leaders to abandon the coastal capital they had controlled for six months.

"Most of the Islamists were destroyed by our forces ... the Islamic courts do not exist any more," Gedi told reporters, adding that their defeat had curbed the expansion of terrorism in Africa.

"The Ethiopian (forces) will stay as long as needed by the transitional federal government ... The stabilization of Somalia is needed for the stability of our neighbours," he said Friday.(More...)

Foreign Troops Must Leave Somalia - Rep. Donald Payne

United States Congress (Washington, DC)
PRESS RELEASE
December 29, 2006

The invasion of Somalia by Ethiopian forces, despite claims of invitation by the weak Baidoa-based Transitional Federal Government, only leads to more suffering and instability in the Horn of Africa region. United Nations Security Council resolution 1725 clearly stated that "all Member States, in particular those in the region, should refrain from any action in contravention of the arms embargo and related measures."

Using military force instead of negotiations is a deliberate and ill-advised measure that will further destabilize and increase the suffering of the Somali people. I strongly condemn this aggression and call for the immediate withdrawal of Ethiopian and all foreign forces from Somalia.

The African Union and the Arab League have called for Ethiopian and all foreign troops to immediately leave Somalia. Unfortunately, the inaction by the United Nations Security Council has once again failed the helpless people of Somalia.

A negotiated settlement is the only guarantee for a lasting peace, not war. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia accuses the Union of Islamic Courts as Jihadist and extremist. He also justifies his action against Somalia because of the threats he claims the Courts pose against Ethiopia. The fact of the matter is Ethiopian forces are in Somalia and not the other way around. Besides, how is it possible for a non-conventional force to really pose a threat against the largest armed forces in Sub-Saharan Africa? Ethiopia's military adventure not only diminishes hopes for a negotiated settlement, but confirms the suspicion of Somalis that the TFG is a proxy of Ethiopia. (More...)

Today's Top Stories

-Eritrea and Ethiopia Top Africa in Army Sizes
-Somalia faces months of martial law
-Ford Told Reporter Friendship With Nixon Affected Pardon
-Saddam Handed Over To Iraqi Officials
-Israel Won't Free Palestinian Prisoners
-Cloned animals deemed safe to eat
-'New Mozart work' gets premiere
-Helpful drunk driver offers aid to police

Change of Tune - Ethiopian forces will stay as long as needed says Somali PM

Today's Top Stories

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Road to Mogadishu Begins in Kaliti

Also in the news: [SOCEPP: Ethiopian government intensifies repression in the country as war in Somalia rages on] - [CNN: Ethiopian troops enter Mogadishu] - [Somalia: Banditry insecurity rage in Mogadishu as Islamists leave] - [U.S. Should Not Support Ethiopia’s Invasion of Somalia] - [Pressure mounts on Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somalia] - [Ethiopia's Invasion Bodes Ill for Regional Peace] - [Serkalem's struggle against tyranny] - [Kenya: MPs condemn Ethiopia’s attack on Somalia]

International: [Ford funeral to begin Friday] - [John Edwards joins Democratic presidential race] - [Iraqis brace for Hussein execution] - [Ford disagreed with Bush over Iraq invasion -WPost] and more of today's top stories

The Road to Mogadishu Begins in Kaliti

As the Ethiopian troops roll into Mogadishu, there are a few things we should keep in mind.

The first is that as 2007 comes upon us, Prime Minister Meles and the politburo of the EPRDF, are, faced with an intense challenge. How do you advance as the party of the future, the party of the developmental state, when you have extremely low legitimacy in the eyes of anyone outside the party's or government's payroll. Since the election debacle of 2005, the EPRDF has pained itself to assume some kind of legitimacy in the eyes of the populace and intelligentsia, but has failed to find any traction in doing so.

And reasons for that failure are our friends in Kaliti. In the eyes of the public, the imprisoned CUD still holds legitimacy. It is the mayor of Addis Abeba in jail at the Addis Abeba Penitentiary, not an arrogant rebel group, not corrupt businessmen, and definitely not Islamists.

The infamous trial, and the post-traumatic stress that was 2006, has done nothing to change the place of the CUD in the minds of the populace. The Great Ethiopian Run showed us that. For far too many people (as far as the EPRDF is concerned), the CUD is the future, and despite all his high school debate club rhetoric and post flood visits to Dire Dawa, Meles has been incapable of changeing that view. And despite all the concessions made in parliament to make the political body seem like a legitimate forum for countervailing opinion and dissent, the people shrug and keep their eyes on Kaliti.

It is in that context that Meles pulls the trigger on Somalia, and that says everything. Meles has no more tricks up his sleeve. The rule of the EPRDF, with the onset of 2007 and the upcoming millennium, is just a regime: not a program, not a revolution, not reform. They have come full circle confirming what many had claimed a long while ago: the revolutionary democrats are still just guerillas in suits clinging onto power and using brute force and Derg-worthy militarism, to do so.(More...)

Ethiopian government intensifies repression in the country as war in Somalia rages on
SOCEPP, Solidarity comity for Ethiopian political prisoners
Press release

As the EPRDF regime enters into a much condemned war against factions in Somalia, it has stepped up the repression inside Ethiopia. This wave of repression is aracterized by a daily rounding up and arrest of youngsters in Addis Ababa and other localities, in the shooting to death of resisting youngsters like Abebe Haile Mariam and Assefa Tesfaye, in the forced recruitment of youngsters into the army and indiscriminate military actions in the Ogaden and other areas.

The rounding up of youngsters has been done on an almost daily basis in the last month and is still continuing. Security forces have also continued to search districts alleging that they are looking for arms during which operations many innocent people have been manhandled and beaten. In the month of December alone, more than 436 people have bene detained on suspicion of "anti peace activities" that have yet to be defined adequately. Rounded up youths have been forcefully taken to military training camps.

The regime's adventure and war in Somalia have made it even jittery and it is using the war as a pretext to curtail the rights of the people even further. All those who do not support the war are being labelled as "agents" and threateed with reprisals of all sorts. On the other hand, Ethiopian refugees in Somalia are also not faring well in the hands of the Islamic Courts.

SOCEPP condemns with vigor the ongoing mass arrest of youngsters in Ethiopia and their forced recruitment into the army. SOCEPP also condemns the search and seizure operations that have led to the violation of rights and outright robbery of the property of innocent civlians.
www.socepp.de

CNN: Ethiopian troops enter Mogadishu

Ethiopian troops, along with Somali government soldiers, entered Mogadishu on the heels of retreating Islamist troops Thursday, according to a journalist in the Somali capital.

Witnesses reported chaos and looting throughout the city as the Islamist fighters abandoned the city ahead of the advancing troops.(More...)

Somalia: Banditry insecurity rage in Mogadishu as Islamists leave

Mogadishu 28, Dec.06 - With Islamists entirely withdrew from the capital Mogadishu, looters could be seen stealing Islamist reserved arms in their main headquarters in the northern part of the capital Mogadishu.

The Union of Islamic Courts, which was militarily powerful and in firm control of the capital withdrew from Mogadishu late on Wednesday afternoon. It surrendered all battlewagons known as “technicals” back to local clans that gave their backing to Islamists in the first place.

The ICU chairman Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed accompanied by the consultative leaders Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys and Ibrahim Sulaey held a press conference in south of Mogadishu last night. Sheik Sharif who spoke at the news conference said he would call on the civilian population in Mogadishu to take care of the security in the capital and cooperate with Islamist forces that he said will secure the stability of the city.

Islamist soldiers who retreated from their strongholds in southern and northern parts of the country which were immediately occupied by Ethiopian and pro-government troops, put off the military dresses mingling with the ordinary people.

Repeated gunshots could be heard in Mogadishu all last night. Clan militias have instantly taken over all Islamist positions, setting up checkpoints. (More...)

U.S. Should Not Support Ethiopia’s Invasion of Somalia
By Amitabh Pal, The Progressive

The Ethiopian government is quite possibly manipulating intelligence to fool the United States into thinking the threat from the Somali Islamists to be bigger than it actually is.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration is so spooked by the specter of Islamic fundamentalism that it’s willing to overlook the dangers of the conflict sparking off a larger conflagration.

The human toll of the invasion is increasing day by day. Plus, the U.S. backing for the invasion will add to its unpopularity on the continent and in the Middle East. The African Union and the Arab League have called for Ethiopia to pull out, as have Kenya and Djibouti. The United States should firmly add its voice, and instead of backing military adventures should invest in the Somali peace process as a way of staving off the Islamist threat.(More...)

Pressure mounts on Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somalia

The Arab League and the African Union have called for Ethiopian troops to be withdrawn from Somalia immediately. Ethiopian troops are said to be only 30 kilometres north of the capital Mogadishu.

Speaking after a joint consultative meeting the chair of the African Union commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, said the three organisations wanted to see Ethiopia's troops withdrawn from neighbouring Somalia immediately.

Mr Konare told journalists at the African Union headquarters that they wanted all parties to cease hostilities and return to peace talks. (More...)

Ethiopia's Invasion Bodes Ill for Regional Peace

Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia is a threat not only to the Union of Islamic Courts, (UIC) but to any prospect of peace and order in this war-torn country. It also violates the Security Council resolution 1725 of December 6, 2006, which prohibits neighbouring states from deploying troops to Somalia.

The impact of this invasion is likely to be exacerbated by the UN Security Council's decision to partially lift an arms embargo on Somalia, which had been in force since January 1992. The embargo was not particularly effective, but by lifting it in respect of a force to be trained by IGAD and the African Union, the UN may have opened a floodgate.

Somalia has been without an effective government since the overthrow of former military dictator Siad Barre in January 1991. Had the transitional government, which was established in 2004, been united, disciplined and focused, the UIC would not have dislodged it earlier this year.(More...)

Serkalem's struggle against tyranny

Serkalem at four months pregnant, was arrested by the Ethiopian authorities along with her husband, journalist Eskinder Nega, for publishing materials critical of the government

November 1 2005, their offices were searched and the next day security forces were dispatched to arrest the couple in their home. Upon arrival, they discovered that the pair had already escaped and gone into hiding. Instead, her mother was taken hostage and held in custody for five days while the pictures of the couple were broadcast on national television, accompanied by a public arrest warrant and a statement denouncing them as dangerous criminals. For three weeks they remained in hiding, during which time her closest brother was arrested and then released, only to inadvertently lead government agents who were assigned to track down the `fugitives' to their hiding spot.

In the months that followed, Serkalem endured a difficult pregnancy within the Squalid conditions of her cell—forced to cope alone with the wildly fluctuating temperatures of the tropics and frequent prison outbreaks of lice and infectiousdisease. Despite such hardship, she continued to display remarkable courage, regularly appearing in court with her head held high, rising with the other defendants at the bench when requested even during the final stages of her third trimester. According to Amnesty reports, she was denied sufficient medical and pre-natal care throughout the pregnancy, and eventually gave birth to her son in the undesirable conditions of the police hospital under 24-hour official guard.(MORE..)

Today's Top Stories

-Kenya: MPs condemn Ethiopia’s attack on Somalia
-Ford funeral to begin Friday
-Ford disagreed with Bush over Iraq invasion -WPost
-John Edwards joins Democratic presidential race Canada
-Iraqis brace for Hussein execution
-Saddam's Death To Be Videotaped
-Head-banging snakes may predict quakes

The Road to Mogadishu Begins in Kaliti

Today's Top Stories

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

ETHIOPIAN WOMEN LEADING THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TYRANNY

Also in the news: [U.N. envoy urges cease-fire in Somalia] - [Ethiopian troops move within 50 kilometres of Mogadishu] - [U.S. Signals Backing for Ethiopian Incursion Into Somalia] - [AFRICAN UNION AND ARAB LEAGUE CALL FOR ETHOPIA'S WITHDRAWAL] - [Ethiopia urged to withdraw army] - [Former US Ambassador Questions Ethiopian Military Strategy in Somalia]

International: [Gerald R. Ford, 38th U.S. President, Dies at Age 93] - [Saddam to die within 30 days as appeal fails] - [Iranian President sends message to the Pope} and more of today's top stories

Ethiopian women leading the struggle against tyranny

In a country where politics is regarded as a man's domain, Ethiopian women are leading the struggle against tyranny, writes KE's Women's Affairs correspondent Rachel Lewis

A woman in her twenties walks on a muddy path sporadically speckled with red sand and reaches her destination. The way she respires betrays excitement. She wears black gown and carries a cake, giftwrapped with greaseproof paper and ribbons. A group of people follows her, their faces knotted with utter exhilaration.

It is Lidya's graduation day and family members have gathered to celebrate the achievements of their beloved daughter, niece and sister. There is food, and smiles and laughter all around.

As her mother looks on, beaming tearfully with pride, the new graduate excitedly discusses her plans for the future amidst the well-meaning interjections of her gathered relatives and friends. This scene should ring familiar to anyone who has ever attended a graduation celebration. What makes this a rather unique and remarkable celebration is that it is being held in Kaliti Federal Prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the strict one-hour visitation period allotted the nation's political prisoners.

Kaliti prison is a collection of wide hovels made of corrugated iron and concrete. The celebration is taking place at the stand where prisoners meet their relatives during the visitation hours. It is unbearably hot by the sweltering midday sun, which followed the morning drizzle. There are no decorations and music is prohibited, though a few defiant relatives absently hum quiet refrains, while wild mice scurry underfoot in fierce competition for the leftover crumbs of the modest graduation feast.

In a few moments time, the `10-minute warning' will be announced by the head guard over a crackling loud-speaker and the celebrations will immediately come to a close—dishes and leftovers are hurriedly stuffed back into bags, goodbyes exchanged, and palms pressed. Mother and daughter stand face to face, in a final private moment—the mother bravely smiles, her repeated congratulations punctuated by the sobs that rack her small frame, while the daughter nods and whispers words of comfort as she turns to leave, masking the pain of goodbye with a maturity far beyond her years.(MORE..)

Ethiopian troops move within 50 kilometres of Mogadishu

Mogadishu - Ethiopian-backed government troops came within 50 kilometres of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday and took the last remaining large town before the capital Mogadishu, residents said.

Government troops fought their way into Jowhar, some 90 kilometres north of Mogadishu early on Wednesday as Islamist fighters in the town retreated to the capital, after orders by the Islamist chairman, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

'We attack Mogadishu Thursday. We will catch and behead all the terrorists and militants as they behead the innocent people,' said Mohamed Dhere, a former warlord who once controlled Jowhar and marched into the town with the government forces on Wednesday.

Residents of Balad, 30 kilometres north of Mogadishu said the Ethiopian-backed forces were 20 kilometres away from their town, while all Islamist troops had retreated from there to the capital. (More...)

U.N. envoy urges cease-fire in Somalia

UNITED NATIONS - The top U.N. envoy to Somalia urged the Security Council to demand an immediate cease-fire between Ethiopian forces backing Somalia's weak government and the powerful Islamic militia that has controlled much of the country.

But the appeal Tuesday from Francois Lonseny Fall, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative to Somalia, failed to produce results.

The Security Council couldn't agree on a draft presidential statement circulated by Qatar calling for an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of all foreign forces, specifically Ethiopian troops.

Other council members - including the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and African members Ghana and Tanzania - objected to singling out Ethiopia and insisted on talks between the parties and a political agreement to achieve stability before foreign forces withdraw. Discussions were to continued Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the African Union Commission, has called a meeting Wednesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of the 53-nation AU, the Arab League, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a seven-nation East African group, to try to end the fighting and resume dialogue between Somalia's warring parties. (More...)

U.S. Signals Backing for Ethiopian Incursion Into Somalia

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 — The United States on Tuesday signaled its support for the Ethiopian offensive in Somalia, calling it a response to “aggression” by Islamists who have since the summer been consolidating power in the country.

A spokeswoman for the State Department, Janelle Hironimus, said Ethiopia was trying to stem the flow of outside arms shipments to the Islamists. Ms. Hironimus added that Washington was concerned about reports that the Islamists were using child soldiers and abusing Ethiopian prisoners of war.

The statement was the most detailed by the United States since last week, when the long-simmering tension between Ethiopia and Somalia boiled over.

Ethiopia has long been a strong ally of Washington in the Horn of Africa. The American military has for years trained Ethiopian troops at bases in the eastern region. The training is part of a Pentagon effort to build the Ethiopian military into a bulwark against regional terrorist networks. (More...)

AFRICAN UNION AND ARAB LEAGUE CALL FOR ETHOPIA'S WITHDRAWAL

Addis Abeba, 27 Dec. (AKI) - The African Union (AU) and the Arab League on Wednesday issued calls for Ethiopia - whose troops are currently advancing on the Somali capital, Mogadishu - to withdraw from the conflict-scarred country. Both bodies urged Ethopia not to attack Mogadishu and to begin peace talks with the Islamist Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

Arab League delegates gathered in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, said Ethopia should immediately withdraw its troops to prevent the escalating conflict spreading to the entire Horn of Africa region. The African Union (AU) and the Arab League also issued a joint appeal from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Abeba backing Somalia's transitional government based in the southern town of Baidoa. (More...)

Ethiopia urged to withdraw army

DJIBOUTI, December 27 -- Djibouti has called on its neighbour Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from Somalia, where they are backing the weak government against Islamist fighters, warning the conflict could destabilise the whole of the Horn of Africa.

The Djibouti government issued the appeal following a cabinet meeting late on Tuesday called to discuss the week-old conflict, said government spokesperson Ali Abdi Farah.

"The Djibouti government joins with the Arab League and the European Union (EU) and reiterates its position in solemnly calling for the parties in the conflict to call an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia and the resumption of inter-Somalian negotiations," he said.(More...)

Former US Ambassador Questions Ethiopian Military Strategy in Somalia

As Ethiopia continues its military advances in Somalia, observers are debating the wisdom of the strategy. For an analysis, VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua spoke with Dr. David Shinn of George Washington University, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia. Dr. Shinn gives his short-term and long-term views of the situation. He says he thinks Ethiopian forces may try to encircle the capital, Mogadishu.

“I strongly doubt they have any desire to go into Mogadishu and repeat the problems that earlier peacekeeping forces have had in a major, highly confined urban area. But perhaps just sit outside Mogadishu and try to in effect strangle the (Islamic) courts. What I’m perplexed at though is how this accomplishes that unless you’re there a very, very long time,” Shinn says.

As for the long term, the former ambassador says, “If you stay there, you open yourself to guerilla attack. And if you leave I guess you’re assuming that you reinstall those Somali elements, including the warlords, who were there before.”(More...)

Today's Top Stories

-Gerald R. Ford, 38th U.S. President, Dies at Age 93
-Saddam to die within 30 days as appeal fails
-Iranian President sends message to the Pope
-Pregnant Germans try to delay births to get New Year cash bonus
-Woman fakes kidnapping to avoid work

ETHIOPIAN WOMEN LEADING THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TYRANNY

Ethiopian women leading the struggle against tyranny

Today's Top Stories

Somalia could be Ethiopia's quagmire - and create the same problems the U.S. is facing in Iraq

Also in the news: [A Reckless War Borne of Bad Choices] - [Mass Arrests on Christmas Day in Addis] - [UIC chairman says The duels with Ethiopia will be long and unending] - [Censorship in Ethiopia enters the next phase - All Internet cafes ordered to register users] - [Somali flare-up pits three African "dogs of war"] - [Ethiopian troops advance on Mogadishu] - [Meles says up to 1,000 Islamists dead in Ethiopia offensive}

International: [Egypt reports ninth human bird flu death] - [Iraq War Claims More U.S. Lives Than 9/11] - [Israeli PM favors talks with Syria] - [Asian Nations Mark Tsunami Anniversary] - [James Brown's last words: 'I'm going away'] and more of today's top stories

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On January 11, 2007, an important Human Rights Symposium will take place in Atlanta. The Coalition for HR 5680, represented by Professor Alemayehu G/ Mariam will participate. In collaboration with other organizations, the Coalition for HR 5680 plans to push for a strongly worded resolution calling for the IMMEDIATE and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience in ETHIOPIA. (More on the symposium...)
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Mass Arrests on Christmas Day in Addis

Lewit

Last night police swarmed the streets of Addis in attempt to broaden the mass arrest efforts already underway.

In addition to the thousands of youths reportedly detained over the weekend, those even remotely connected to the opposition CUD are being systematically rounded up and detained for 'questioning'--thanks to a circulating 'official list' of names and license plate numbers of alleged party supporters.

It is assumed that this action is intended as a preventative measure in light of growing internal opposition to the war following the recent air strikes in Somalia.

People are advised to remain in their homes after dark.

Somalia could be Ethiopia's quagmire

A more involved military offensive might pose the same problems the U.S. is facing in Iraq, observers say.

By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer
December 26, 2006

NAIROBI, KENYA — Ethiopia's attacks against Islamic forces in Somalia may have delivered a short-term military victory, but analysts warned that a longer offensive could present the U.S. ally with some of the same challenges facing American forces in Iraq.

Airstrikes against the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and other towns Sunday and Monday demonstrated Ethiopia's military superiority over the Islamic forces that seized most of southern Somalia during the summer.

But Ethiopia would be hard-pressed to dispatch enough troops to capture and occupy Islamic-held areas of Somalia.

"I don't understand what Ethiopia's objective is," said David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and now a political science professor at George Washington University. "I can't imagine their objective is to occupy and hold Somalia. It was a very limited victory."

Most experts agree that Ethiopia's battle-tested army, numbering as many as 150,000 troops, could easily beat Somalia's ragtag Islamic fighters, which are believed to total under 10,000.(More...)

Meles says up to 1,000 Islamists dead in Ethiopia offensive

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamists are in full retreat after Ethiopian airstrikes and a ground offensive that have killed up to 1,000 of the religious movement's fighters, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Tuesday.

"A joint Somali government and Ethiopian force has broken the back of the international terrorist forces... These forces are in full retreat," Meles told reporters in Addis Ababa, adding that up to 1,000 Islamist fighters had been killed.

"A few are Somali but the majority are foreigners," he said of the dead.

Addis Ababa has vowed to protect Somalia's weak interim government from rival Islamists based in Mogadishu. A week of artillery and mortar duels between the two sides has spiraled into open war that both sides say has killed hundreds.

Meles said most fighters of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) had fled to their home areas. He said Ethiopian forces were now hunting down troops from his arch-foe Eritrea, which he accuses of supporting the Islamists.

"The only forces we are pursuing are Eritreans who are hiding behind the skirts of Somali women, and terrorist mujahideen," Meles said. (More...)

Somali flare-up pits three African "dogs of war"

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Three wily old soldiers who know each other only too well from years at the heart of conflict and power-play across the Horn of Africa are once again pitting their military wits in the Somalia war.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, his ally Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, and their mutual arch-foe -- Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- are the key players in a flare-up many fear could spread across the region.

"These three have a long and tangled history. They can probably read each other's minds by now," said a Western diplomat who tracks Somalia.

"What they all share is plenty of battlefield experience. And you really could call them three of the Horn of Africa's oldest dogs of war."

Meles, who has sent his military into Somalia to curb the rise of a militant Islamist movement, is a 54-year-old former rebel leader who toppled dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991.

The shrewd and tough Ethiopian leader -- initially a darling of the West but increasingly viewed as an autocrat -- first sent troops into Somalia in the early 1990s to crush Islamic militants, led by Aweys no less.

Meles then fought what many outside the region perceived as a pointless 1998-2000 war with Eritrea over a desolate patch of border. The conflict killed 70,000 people and devastated what were already two of the world's poorest nations. (More...)

ICU chairman says The duels with Ethiopia will be long and unending

Mogadishu 26, Dec.06 ( Sh.M.Network) In a press conference held in the capital Mogadishu, Islamic Courts chairman Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed told reporters that the war between the ICU and the Ethiopian troops backing the Somali government will be long and unending.

Ahmed said, “There was a meeting in Emirates between us and the Ethiopian government. They put forward conditions that we should cut our relations with countries like Eritrea, Sudan and other world countries and that we should give up Ethiopian rebels whom they said are in Somalia”.

Ahmed reiterated that there were no al-Qaeda members in Somalia.
Ethiopian prime minister Males Zenawi said on Sunday, that meeting between Ethiopia and Islamists in Somalia ended in failure, and that his country was forced to go into war with Islamic movements. United States says Somalia’s Islamic Courts include radicals and moderates.

Ethiopian fighter jets bombed Mogadishu’s international airport and Baledogle, which is 100 km away from the capital Mogadishu. Islamists retreated many key towns in central and southern Somalia where Ethiopian backed government troops soon occupied.
The Somali government in Baidoa announced that it would extend forgiveness to Islamic Courts forces that surrender. (More...)

Censorship in Ethiopia enters the next phase - All Internet cafes ordered to register users

Groum Abate

The Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency is distributing forms for Internet cafes in the country to register internet users. Sources said that the agency in collaboration with the Federal Police is disbursing the letter to all cyber cafes in Addis Ababa and other major towns.

The form requests the internet user’s ID, full name and residential address. Users will be registered and police officials would collect the form for identification. If an internet café is found giving service to unregistered customers, the owners would be jailed for violation of the regulation with severe punishment.

Ethiopian troops advance on Mogadishu

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Sensing victory against its Somali Islamist foes, Ethiopia attacked retreating fighters from the air on Tuesday and threatened to seize their stronghold Mogadishu after a week of war in the Horn of Africa.

"Ethiopian forces are on their way to Mogadishu. They are about 70 km (40 miles) away and it is possible they could capture it in the next 24 to 48 hours," Somalia's ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa.

Islamists said any attempt to take Mogadishu would end in disaster for the attackers. Islamists said any attempt to take Mogadishu would end in disaster for the attackers.

"It will be their destruction and doomsday," Islamist spokesman Abdi Kafi told Reuters. "It is a matter of time before we start striking at them from all directions". (More...)

Today's Top Stories

-A Reckless War Borne of Bad Choices: Enset
-Egypt reports ninth human bird flu death
-Iraq War Claims More U.S. Lives Than 9/11
-Israeli PM favors talks with Syria
-Asian Nations Mark Tsunami Anniversary
-James Brown's last words: 'I'm going away'
-Cash on offer for S Koreans who stay away from prostitutes

Somalia could be Ethiopia's quagmire - and create the same problems the U.S. is facing in Iraq

Today's Top Stories

Monday, December 25, 2006

Censorship in Ethiopia enters the next phase - All Internet cafes ordered to register users

Groum Abate

The Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency is distributing forms for Internet cafes in the country to register internet users. Sources said that the agency in collaboration with the Federal Police is disbursing the letter to all cyber cafes in Addis Ababa and other major towns.

The form requests the internet user’s ID, full name and residential address. Users will be registered and police officials would collect the form for identification. If an internet café is found giving service to unregistered customers, the owners would be jailed for violation of the regulation with severe punishment.

Censorship in Ethiopia enters the next phase - All Internet cafes ordered to register users

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Breaking news - Ethiopia Launches Airstrikes in Somalia, bombs Airports and Bridges

Also in the news: [Ethiopia 'officially' at war] - [U.S. policy in the Horn of Africa may aid al-Qaida, experts warn]

Ethiopia 'officially' at war

In his address to the Nation concerning the current situation in Somalia, broadcast live on Ethiopian Television and Radio, Prime Minister Meles said Ethiopia had been "forced to enter a war" and that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces will relinquish Somalia immediately after accomplishing their mission.

Ethiopia Launches Airstrikes in Somalia, bombs Airports and Bridges

Mogadishu - Ethiopian warplanes attacked two Islamist-held airfields in Somalia on Monday, witnesses said, in the most dramatic strikes yet of a war threatening to engulf the Horn of Africa.

The attacks - one on the capital Mogadishu - came hours after Ethiopia formally declared war, saying it was protecting its sovereignty against a movement run by terrorists.

Fighting raged for a seventh day near Daynunay, close to the government seat, Baidoa. Witnesses reported truck-loads of Ethiopian wounded being evacuated, and Islamist soldiers were said to be reciting the Qur'an as they went into battle.

A MiG fighter struck Mogadishu's international airport with machinegun fire soon after dawn, airport managing director Abdirahim Adan told Reuters. Three jets later attacked Somalia's biggest military airfield at Baledogle, 100km west of Mogadishu. (More...)

U.S. policy in the Horn of Africa may aid al-Qaida, experts warn

"Even powerful U.S. politicians have had a role in American policy surrounding the complex conflict. Dick Armey, the former majority leader in the GOP-run House of Representatives, has been lobbying for Ethiopia (government), congressional aides said. Last summer, Armey worked to block a vote on a bipartisan bill to cut U.S. security aid to Ethiopia if it failed to halt political repression. The Bush administration also opposed the bill." - Jonathan S. Landay and Shashank Bengali
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NAIROBI, Kenya — As fighting intensified Friday between Somali Islamists and an Ethiopian intervention force, Western diplomats and experts warned that U.S. policy in the Horn of Africa - intended to curb Islamic radicalism - may not only be fueling this newest conflict, but also may be making it easier for al-Qaida to gain a foothold in the strategic region.

Fighting raged for a fourth day around Baidoa, the last bastion of Somalia's U.N.-recognized Transitional Federal Government, which is depending on Ethiopian troops for its survival. Both Islamists and the government claimed advances after what was described as a heavy artillery exchange.

The top Islamist official renewed his call for "jihad" against what he said was Ethiopian invaders, and there were reports of an armored column of Ethiopian tanks heading into central Somalia. (More...)