At least seven people have been killed, including three police officers, in the Somali capital, following the formation of a new anti-government alliance.
Armed insurgents staged a hit-and-run attack on a government base in north-east Mogadishu, leaving six dead, a police spokesman said.
Elsewhere, a police captain was shot dead by three men with pistols.
The new alliance has reportedly named former Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as its chairman.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ghedi has criticised the new Eritrea-based grouping as “trouble-makers and terrorists”.
“The government does not recognise the results of the so-called Asmara conference hosted by the Eritrean president, who is known to be the trouble-maker in the Horn of Africa,” he said, according to the AP news agency.
Two-track
The overnight Mogadishu attack was in Huriwa, seen as an insurgent stronghold.
“It was one of the heaviest attacks we have witnessed for months – they attacked us with a large number of fighters,” said Abdi Hashi Aden, a police officer in the attacked camp.
Local resident Sahra Shiekh Muse said she witnessed a number of government soldiers forced to run out of the camp.
Police spokesman Colonel Abdi Wahid Mohamed denied the claim.
The attacks came hours after a night-time curfew was relaxed for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The new Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia (ALS) groups together former Islamists and opposition figures.
It aims to remove the Ethiopian Woyanne-backed government by negotiation – or war.
“We have two-track options – first is the liberation of Somalia through military struggle, the second is through diplomatic efforts,” said Zakariya Mahamud Abdi, spokesman for the Somali Congress.
The spokesman had a stark warning for Ethiopian Woyanne troops, heavily deployed in Somalia since they rescued embattled transitional government forces last year.
“We warn Ethiopia Woyanne to withdraw immediately. It is now or never and in a few weeks they will not have a route to withdraw,” Abdi said.
Sheikh Ahmed was seen as a relative moderate in the Union of Islamic Courts, which took control of much of southern Somalia last year.
It is not yet clear whether Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an architect of the Mogadishu insurgency and on the US list of terror suspects, will be a senior member of the alliance.
Boycott
The Islamists have resorted to guerrilla tactics, launching daily hit-and-run attacks on targets, mainly in Mogadishu.
The UN refugee agency says some 400,000 people have fled the fighting in the capital in the past four months as a result of the surge in violence.
The Islamists, along with other opposition leaders like Hussain Aideed, boycotted a reconciliation meeting sponsored by the transitional government last month.
Instead they chose to organise a meeting hosted by Ethiopia’s Woyanne’s arch-enemy, Eritrea.
Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi has said his troops will withdraw once an African Union peacekeeping force arrives in Mogadishu.
But pledges by AU nations to contribute troops to the planned 7,000-strong peacekeeping mission have yet to be honoured and so far only 1,600 Ugandan soldiers have been deployed.
Now that the Millennium celebrations are over, Ethiopia’s regime (Woyanne) appears ready to attack Eritrea with tacit US backing.
Over 100,000 people were slaughtered the last time these two countries fought a war in 1998 – 2000. This time, the death and destruction as well as the long term dislocation and suffering could be worse.
U.S. takes sides
Incomprehensibly, the Bush administration is fanning the flames and taking sides in a tribal war between two dictators. Current U.S. policy in Africa appears to be dictated more by the force of personalities than strategic principles.
Africa is rarely high on the U.S. agenda. So, important decisions are relegated to low-level political appointees. Inexperienced diplomats such as Jendayi Frazer are easily manipulated by fast-talking African dictators such as Meles Zenawi. Frazer’s singular legacy so far is the debacle in Somalia.
Meles Zenawi – the Ahmed Challabi of the Horn of Africa
Just as in Iraq, the U.S.-backed invasion of Somalia was based on false intelligence and assumptions. Now it’s about to be repeated in Eritrea. Just as Ahmed Challabi fed US lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Meles Zenawi fabricated stories about Somalia being a haven for terrorists.
The invasion of Somalia was waged to capture or kill three terrorists Meles claimed were hiding in Mogadishu. The three fugitives were wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing in Nairobi. None of these terrorists were captured or killed. Yet, some 5,000 Somalis have been killed, thousands wounded and some 400,000 made homeless.
Zenawi and his generals got paid handsomely. His Woyanne (Tigrean People’s Liberation Front) regime has one simple over-arching agenda: to ensure their minority rule over 70 million Ethiopians. They have managed to impose their rule through mass arrests, disappearances and killings that amount to war crimes. In return for their services in the so-called war against terror, the Bush administration has condoned the murderous activities of Woyanne’s rulers.
Can Eritrea be a breeding ground for Islamic extremists?
It will be the ultimate folly and ignorance to construe the fight among Eritreans and Tigreans as one between supporters and opponents of Islamic extremism.
Isaias Afewerki’s government is a secular, nationalist/leftist government. The Eritrean population is roughly half Moslem and half Christian. But political leadership has traditionally been dominated by the Christians. If anything, a Moslem upheaval is a threat to Eritrea’s current government. It is therefore absurd to believe that Eritrea will want to be a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists, as some ill-informed American officials assert.
Clearly, Eritrea is supporting Somali opposition forces opposed to Ethiopia’s dictatorship that happen to be Moslems. Eritrea is also supporting Ethiopian opposition forces that are secular and fighting Tigrean domination.
The Woyane leadership [Ethiopia’s regime], on the other hand, has a vested interest in presenting the fight as one between good and evil – just the simplistic way the Bush administration likes it. Zenawi has masterfully manipulated U.S. obsession with Islamic extremism to present their clan war with Eritrea as a fight against terrorism and those harboring terrorists. In truth, the Tigrian leadership could care less about the fight against terrorism. In the 1970s and 80s the Tigrai Liberation Front (TPLF) group regularly engaged in terrorist activities such as kidnapping and murder.1 So the only permanent interest the group has is staying in power.
U.S. verbal attack against Eritrea
Jendayi Frazer, the US diplomat in charge of Africa, is labeling Eritrea a terrorist haven, creating the psychological climate for what appears to be a justification for the invasion of Eritrea.2
Frazer’s coddling of Ethiopia’s Zenawi while blasting Eritrea’s Afewerki is reminiscent of Donald Rumsfiled’s embrace of Saddam Hussein 3 and his endorsement of Hussein’s invasion of Iran. Yet another senseless U.S. strategic blunder is about to be played out in the Horn of Africa.
Other US diplomats are busy flattering Ethiopia’s ruler while attacking Asmara.
“Ethiopia’s political leaders have committed themselves to a new collaborative relationship for the good of the country,” said James Swan, on August 5, 2007. Mr. swan is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. He made the remark at the 4th International Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.4
According to Mr. Swan, “Eritrea has chosen to support extremist elements, including the al-Qaida affiliated al Shabaab militia in Somalia, in an effort to undermine the political process. While the rest of the region and the international community have united behind a common strategy for achieving lasting peace and stability in Somalia, Eritrea has opted to support terrorists and spoilers while encouraging continued violence. There is no justification for such actions. The ruling cabal is – to our great regret — leading Eritrea along the path toward increased domestic repression and hardship, and regional and international isolation.“
These are serious charges. Charges that indicate the Bush Administration and the Ethiopian leadership are working closely to overthrow the Eritrean government.
Coup d’etat or war?
Ethiopia’s ruling Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) would engage in such risky venture only if it believes it can launch a blitzkrieg similar to the one used in the invasion of Somalia. But Eritrea is no Somalia. And there is no guaranty of a quick, easy victory.
What’s guaranteed, however, is tremendous human slaughter and suffering of an unprecedented scale. Hence the need for people of good will to speak up before yet another war engulfs two of the poorest countries in the world.
Ethiopia’s Tigrai Liberation Front could be entertaining two possible scenarios:
1. Decapitation/ coup d’etat against the Eritrean leadership; or
2. Outright invasion.
The first scenario is what Meles Zenawi and his politburo would prefer. The decapitation can be accomplished with logistical and intelligence support from the Israel and the United States.
The Woyanne leadership has come to the conclusion that Isaias Afewerki is weak and unpopular; hence easily replaceable. Afeworki may be unpopular, but it remains to be seen whether Ethiopia’s Woyanne leadership could easily orchestrate regime change in neighboring Eritrea.
The Woyanne leadership brags that the road to Asmara can be a cakewalk. It has amassed enough troops on three fronts to engage in a pincer movement. In addition, some 5,000 highly trained special forces are said to be on standby to parachute to the environs of Asmara on short notice.
The preparation for regime change appears to be in full throttle. Ethiopia is also training and supporting dissident forces such as the Eritrean Democratic Alliance.
If a coup d’etat or decapitation of the Eritrean leadership is not possible, Zenawi will have to resort to a costly invasion. An invasion will very likely be supported by secret U.S. air strikes and satellite intelligence.
The U.S. will also provide the disinformation, demonizing the Eritreans while legitimizing violence initiated by Woyanne. As a prelude to what is in the pipeline, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer indicated the U.S. readiness to label Eritrea a terrorist state. This could presumably be followed by some UN resolution, which will then provide a legal cover for the invasion of Eritrea.
For the Pentagon and its newly minted Africa Command (AFRICOM) as well as the Department of State, condoning an invasion may be a tempting way to reward Zenawi and his Woyannes for being good boys. Zenawi and company have been both the manipulators and the compliant locals always eager to do any dirty deed and to please the master. The invasion of Somalia was a reflection of the incestuous relationship between the local tyrants and the Bush administration.
The Woyanne regime is in trouble
The war in Somalia is going very badly for the US-backed Woyannes and the Transitional Federal “Government.” In the meantime, international human rights groups are accusing the Woyannes and the Transitional Somali government of war crimes.
So, the question is, will the Woyanne leadership opt for war on two fronts? As unlikely as that may seem, the Zenawi group may opt for war. War, after all, is what the TPLF knows best.
The Woyanne leadership feels a legitimate threat from Eritrea. It has skillfully monopolized political and economic power in Ethiopia for the last 16 years. It managed to do so by ruthlessly holding down the local population while manipulating Western donors into lining its pockets.
Eritrea is now threatening the Tigrean stranglehold on Ethiopia by harboring Ethiopian dissidents and Somali forces opposed to Woyanne and the fragile Somali Transitional Government.
Zenawi has masterfully exploited U.S. fears of Islamic terrorism in the wake of the September 2001 attacks. He has promoted himself as an indispensable American ally in the fight against terrorism. In return, the Bush administration has condoned the many crimes and human rights abuses committed by the Zenawi regime.
Why does the U.S. condemn Eritrea and not Ethiopia’s Woyanne regime? Why the moral double standard?
Zenawi and his organization were once labeled terrorists by the United States. Apparently, if you do this administration’s bidding, it does not matter how heinous your crimes are.
Let’s look at the highlights of crimes committed by the Woyanne regime:
* Possible war crimes in Somalia. Indiscriminate shelling of civilians, hospitals, blocking food convoys, and the use of white phosphorous chemical weapons.
* The genocide currently underway in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region.
* The June and November 2005 killings of over 193 people, the arrest of over 40,000 protesting electoral fraud.
* Upwards of 15,000 killed, tens of thousands imprisoned in Oromia region.
* Over 425 ethnic Anuaks massacred by Ethiopian forces in December 2003; some 10,000 made homeless.
Time to speak up
Ethiopia and Eritrea are among the poorest countries in the world. Food and freedom, and not war, are the real issues. Thousands of Eritreans are suffering from food shortages and economic deprivation. Over four million Ethiopians need food assistance.
For the Ethiopian minority regime, this is a preemptive war. The cost of the war may be underwritten by some American counter-insurgency slush fund. How about human lives? The Woyanne group sacrificed over 50,000 lives in Eritrea before. It’s now sacrificing thousands in Somalia. But since this is a regime that does not have to account to its own people, lives don’t matter.
Where is the morality for a big power like the U.S. egging two poor people towards war? Why the haste to sacrifice so many African lives in the name of some ill-conceived, dubious cause.
This is the time for all people of good will to speak up against an impending senseless war.
______
The writer can be reached at [email protected]
Somali Islamists and opposition leaders meeting in Eritrea have joined forces in a new alliance to overthrow Somalia’s transitional government. More than 300 delegates, including Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, have approved a constitution and central committee.
Sheik Aweys emerged from hiding
to attend the talks [photo: BBC]
A spokesman said the new movement will be called The Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia.
It aims to remove the Ethiopian Woyanne-backed government by negotiation – or war.
“We have two-track options – first is the liberation of Somalia through military struggle, the second is through diplomatic efforts,” said Zakariya Mahamud Abdi, spokesman for the Somali Congress.
The Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia (ALS) will have a 191-member central committee that will function as a parliament with a 10-person executive committee to be elected shortly.
The spokesman had a stark warning for Ethiopian Woyanne troops, heavily deployed in Somalia since they rescued embattled transitional government forces last year.
“We warn Ethiopia Woyanne to withdraw immediately. It is now or never and in a few weeks they will not have a route to withdraw,” Abdi said.
Key role
Reporters at the Somali Congress for Liberation and Reconstitution in Asmara say the alliance is unlikely to be Islamist-led as the opposition is hoping to draw on the broad political support and fundraising opportunities of the Somali diaspora.
The participants want to see
the Woyanne invading forces out
within two months [photo: BBC]
But observers say it will be interesting to see if a position is offered to the Islamist leader Sheikh Aweys, an architect of the Mogadishu insurgency, who has been in hiding since the Islamic Courts’ Union was routed by the Ethiopian army last year.
In an interview with the Eritrean media, Sheikh Aweys, has dismissed US allegations that he is a “terrorist”.
“I am a Somali nationalist fighting for a free and united Somalia,” he said “and this is considered by the US administration to be terrorism.”
The UN refugee agency says some 400,000 people have fled the fighting in the capital in the past four months as a result of the surge in violence.
The Islamists, along with other opposition leaders like Hussain Aideed, boycotted a reconciliation meeting sponsored by the transitional government last month.
US warnings
Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi has said his troops will withdraw once African Union peacekeepers arrive in Mogadishu.
But pledges by AU nations to contribute troops to the planned 7,000-strong peacekeeping mission have yet to be honoured and so far only 1,600 Ugandan soldiers have been deployed.
Just days ago, a senior US official said the presence of Sheikh Aweys in Asmara was further evidence Eritrea gave sanctuary to terrorists.
The gathering of further intelligence could lead to Eritrea being named as a state sponsor of terrorism – followed by sanctions, the official warned.
The millennium party that was organized by Woyanne billionaire businessman Sheik Al Amoudi was attended by very few people other than Meles Zenawi, his puppet, President Girma Wolde-Giorgis, Woyanne officials and some opportunist individuals.
The much-talked-about party, which was organized at the cost of $10 million in the Bole district of Addis Ababa, was being shown live on the state-run TV.
The party hall was almost empty, as the TV cameras showed tonight. Meles himself appears to be uneasy as he listened “Don’t Lie” by Black Eyed Peas band from the U.S. The only person who is seen enjoying himself seems to be Meto Aleqa Girma Wolde-Giorgia, because food is in abundance supply at the party.
There was another party in Addis Ababa Stadium that was hosted by the Woyanne-installed mayor of Addis Ababa. That party was also a bust. There were very few people inside the stadium, as shown on TV. The Federal Police, Meles Zenawi’s trigger-happy killers, may have outnumbered the party-goers.
In Jan Meda, there were more people, but almost all of them teenagers. Even that one did not look any thing close to a millennium party.
So this was how the millennium was received in Ethiopia — Meles listening to Black Eye Peas from the U.S., “President” Girma attacking a table full of food, the Woyanne mass murderers getting drunk, may be to forget about their murder spree, and the rest of Ethiopians staying at home and praying to God for a better future for the country.
It was the height of hypocrisy any way for Meles and his Woyanne gang to try to celebrate Ethiopia’s 2000. Didn’t they say that Ethiopia’s history is only 100 years old?
The Meles regime released today 17,765 political prisoners who are suspected of being members of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), according to members of the elders council Prof. Ephrem Isaac and Pastor Daniel.
It is to be remembered that Woyanne Propaganda chief Bereket Simon had repeated said there are no political prisoners in Ethiopia.
The 17,000 who have been released today are those who have been rounded up from the streets and their homes suspected of being members of OLF and Kinijit.
Tens of thousands of political prisoners who are members or suspected of being members of the the Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front, the Ogaden National Liberation Front and other rebels groups remain in jail.
Most of the prisoners have been tortured and abused while incarcerated without trial for several months and years.
The astonishing number of the political prisoners is just one example of the kind of atrocities the Meles Zenawi and his Woyanne regime are perpetrating in Ethiopia.
_____________ Report by Ethiopian News Agency
Federal, regional governments grant pardons to 17,765 prisoners
September 11, 2007
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ENA)- Federal and Regional Governments have granted pardons to 17,765 prisoners who submitted requests for
clemency, said the Ministry of Information.
The Ministry quoting the Justice Ministry said the requests for pardon by prisoners in the regions were given answers to after having been looked into
by the regional boards of pardon and approved by presidents of the respective regional governments. The requests made by prisoners at federal prisons
were approved by the head of state upon recommendation by the federal board of pardon.
Accordingly,
Oromia pardons 6,942 prisoners
South Ethiopia Peoples’ State 4,995
Amhara 3,108
Tigray 1,800
Benishangul Gumuz 458,
Harari 60
Gambella 19
and from the federal government 383 in the wake of the new millennium.
The pardon applied to individuals who have shown good behaviour, and in view of the contributions they could make to national economic building –
criteria against which each of the pardoned had been evaluated by committees.
The pardoned include individuals who were convicted and were serving prison terms ranging to as many as 20 years for crimes such as rape, murder,
armed robbery and other criminal offenses.
We are writing to express our deep concern about the whereabouts, legal status and health of Eritrean journalists Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi and Saleh Idris Gama of Eritrean state broadcaster Eri-TV. Official statements and videotape indicate that your government has been holding them incommunicado after their arrests by Kenyan authorities late last year during fighting in Somalia.
We call on you to ensure your government accounts for veteran cameraman Tesfazghi and producer Gama, to publicly disclose charges and evidence against them, and to provide confirmation of their well-being.
A three-part video, titled “The Strategy of Sowing Discord by [President] Isaias [Afewerki’s] Eritrean Clique,” and posted in April on the Ethiopian government Web site Waltainfo, suggested the journalists were involved in military activities in Somalia, according to CPJ research. While journalists in Eritrea are often conscripted into military service, the video does not present any evidence linking the journalists to military activity.
Tesfazghi and Gama had been dispatched to Mogadishu by the Eritrean government, but later went on their own toward Kenya, reaching the border, according to an Amharic-language voiceover allegedly interpreting Gama’s comments from Tigrinya. The video also introduced Gama as “a reporter for Eritrean TV” who “reports on military-related issues” and “appears on TV wearing a military uniform with insignia,” according to CPJ research. “Until 2001, I was a member of the Eritrean armed forces. After that, I was transferred to the Eritrean Ministry of Information,” he is attributed to say.
Tesfazghi and Gama have apparently been held since late last year. According to an April statement from the Eritrean Foreign Ministry, Kenyan authorities stopped them at the border and held them for three weeks before handing them over to the Ethiopian-backed Somali transitional government on January 20.
Statements from your government acknowledge that a number of detainees in Somalia were later placed in Ethiopian government custody. In April, in response to international news reports about secret detentions, your government acknowledged that 41 people of 17 nationalities “captured” in Somalia had “indeed been brought over to Ethiopia” on suspicion of “terrorism,” according to an official statement of the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry. Twenty-nine prisoners were slated for release, with the remaining 12 scheduled for an April 16 appearance “before the competent Military Court,” according to the same source. Your government’s statements do not identify the detainees by name, but the videotape on your official site appears to confirm that Tesfazghi and Gama are among those being held.
Several Ethiopian officials, including Information Minister Zemedkun Tekle, Justice Ministry spokesman Ato Alemayu, and federal police spokesperson Demsash Hailu, declined to comment in response to CPJ’s inquiries. In July, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wahid Belay told CPJ: “There is nothing new I can say on this issue. We stand by our previous statement and will issue another statement in time.”
As an organization of journalists dedicated to defending our colleagues worldwide, we call on you to use all your influence to ensure your government publicly account for the whereabouts, legal status, and health of Tesfazghi and Gama.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your reply.
