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Somalia: Traffic Along Ethiopia-Somalia Border Reportedly Halted Due to Fighting.
Jijigawe News — KAMPALA, Uganda — Friday, June 27, 20088
Abdinasir Mohamed Guled
According to our reporter, Abdikarin Ahmad Bulhan, traffic between the central regions of Somalia and
Somali self-governing regions of Ethiopia have been diminishing due to fighting between the Ogaden
National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels and Ethiopian forces.
Traffic between central Somalia and Somali self-governing regions of Ethiopia is said to have been halted
due to the fighting between Ethiopian forces and ONLF rebels in the region.
The fighting is said to be mostly concentrated near the Somali-Ethiopian border, in the towns of Shilabo
and Warder. In Galgudud, the number of vehicles plying the route is said to have diminished as Ethiopian
forces imposed restrictions on traffic following assault on rebels in the region.
Although losses sustained in the fighting are still not known, drivers on the route whom I have spoken to
said it is not possible to cross the border at this time.
It is still not known when normal operations will resume in the route or whether the restrictions on
movements imposed by the Ethiopian forces will be lifted.
The business community is concerned about the closure of the border.
Ethiopian troops who have in the past restricted traffic along the borders are said to sometimes allow food
and necessities to go through to the Ethiopian side. During the year, both sides have variously reported
hundreds of deaths, and accused the other of terrorising the population.
But with aid groups and journalist effectively barred from the worst-hit areas, independent checks on
death-tolls have been impossible. A U.N. mission that went to the region in September did, however, call
for a probe into reports of abuses.
Ethiopia accuses the ONLF, which is thought by analysts to number several thousand gunmen, of being
terrorists supported by arch-foe and neighbour Eritrea.
The ONLF said it had surrounded a large number of Ethiopian troops, and urged them to surrender. ONLF
casualties were "light given the scope of the engagements," it added. Ethiopian officials were not
immediately available for fresh comment on the latest ONLF statement on Tuesday.
Who are the ONLF?
The ONLF was founded in 1984.
It is fighting for independence from Ethiopia, complaining of discrimination by the central government
against the region's Somali-speaking nomads.
Ogaden as same claim is the local name for the Somali region.
Some Ogaden residents and Somalis want the region to be part of a "Greater Somalia" - an idea strongly
resisted by Ethiopia's government. It is not clear if this is ONLF policy.
The ONLF are backing by Eritrea, which fought a border war with Ethiopia, although this is denied in
Asmara.
Have they staged similar attacks before?
The government has accused them of carrying out various bombings both in the Somali region and the
capital, Addis Ababa but this is the first attack on a foreign company in the region. There was a major
military operation in the region last year.
The ONLF said it had warned China against looking for oil in the region. It accuses the Ethiopian army of
moving nomads away from their grazing lands in order to prospect for oil. Communications are extremely
difficult with this remote area and accurate information can be difficult to come by.
What is the Somali region like?
This hot, arid region was ceded to Ethiopia by the British in 1954. Locals complain that they are unable to
look after their camels, sheep and goats because of the constant fighting between the ONLF and the
Ethiopian army.
Somalia has twice fought wars with Ethiopia to get it back but the Ethiopians have been victorious.
The Islamist group which controlled much of southern Somalia last year said it wanted to bring the region
under Somali control.
But the Ethiopians have now helped oust the Islamists and the continued presence of Ethiopian troops in
Somalia has exacerbated tensions in the Somali region
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AU sends team to probe Eritrea-Djibouti clashes.
June 27, 2008 -- SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt -- Jijigawe News)
Source: Reuters
The African Union has sent a team to investigate fighting this month between Djibouti and Eritrea close to
strategic Red Sea shipping lanes, the top AU diplomat said on Friday.
Djibouti accuses neighbouring Eritrea of moving troops across the border, triggering several days of
fighting that killed a dozen Djiboutian soldiers and wounded dozens. Eritrea denies making any incursions.
Addressing African Union foreign ministers meeting in Egypt, the chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping,
said he was concerned by the hostilities.
"I have sent a fact-finding mission to Djibouti that is also mandated to go to Eritrea as well," Ping said. "I
hope both parties will do everything to find a happy solution to this situation."
The U.N. Security Council has also called for a U.N. fact-finding mission to visit both countries.
France has one of its largest overseas military bases in Djibouti. The United States also has a military base
there.
Last week, Djibouti said the situation on the border had calmed, but that French warships would arrive off
its coast soon. Paris signed a mutual defence pact with Djibouti after the Red Sea state's independence in
1977.
Source: Reuters, June 27, 2008
Warsame Abdilahi.
Jijigawe News.
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AU chief urges Africans to send more troops to Somalia.
Jijigawe News — KAMPALA, Uganda — Saturday, 03 May 2008
African Union chief Jakaya Kikwete and Uganda's president have called on African countries to send more
troops to Somalia to stabilize the volatile country and strengthen an AU force on the ground.
During a meeting Kikwete and Yoweri Museveni, whose country provides the largest number of men for the
Somali peacekeeping force, agreed on "the need for more troops for AMISOM, and appealed to the
countries that pledged troops to fulfill their pledges," said a Ugandan statement made available to AFP late
Friday.
AMISOM has been deployed in Somalia since March 2007 and is to ultimately number 8,000 men. It is
currently made up of 1,650 Ugandan troops and 850 soldiers from Burundi.
Kikwete, who is also president of Tanzania, held talks with Museveni on a variety of issues in the Ugandan
capital Wednesday and Thursday including prospects for a regional summit on strife-ridden eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo.
"Kikwete and Museveni agreed to urgently convene a meeting to address the issue of negative forces in
Eastern DRC," the statement said.
They also "noted with concern the recent hostilities in violation of (a) 2006 ceasefire agreement" in Burundi.
Three years after a civil war that claimed 300,000 lives in the small central African country, the rebel
National Liberation Forces (FNL) signed a second peace deal with newly elected authorities in September
2006, but it has yet to be implemented.
Burundi is still struggling to recover from the war that began in 1993, mainly pitting rebels from the Hutu
majority population against the Tutsi minority, which then dominated the army.
A power-sharing government was formed in 2001, while conflict was still taking place, and South Africa
mediated among the different sides, until almost all the rebel groups agreed to a ceasefire.
The AU chief and Museveni "reaffirmed their efforts to steer the implementation of the agreement".
The two leaders called on Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel chief Joseph Kony sign a final peace
agreement.
Signing of the peace accord between Kampala and the LRA, which had been scheduled for early April, was
put off because of Kony's absence. The rebel chief is wanted under an international arrest warrant.
The agreement was to put an official end to a 20-year civil war which left tens of thousands dead and
displaced nearly two million
people________________________________________________________________________________
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The Next US Strike in Somalia: the warlords.
Friday, May 02, 2008 -- Nairobi (Jijigawe News)
Abdulkadir Mohamed - Ato
The US strike that killed the so-called Al-Shabaab or Somali youth insurgent leader, Aden Ayro today
created different reactions among the Somali people everywhere.
Supporters of the weak and warlord-infested government of Somalia felt relief that one of their main foes is
neutralized. Many Somalis, especially those in the Diaspora are holding back their thoughts to the airstrike
as to not attract the wrath of Uncle Sam or being labeled as terrorist sympathizers. In the post 9-11 world
of Guantanamo, renditions and patriot act, many Muslims in the West learned how to keep silent, survive
and continue with their daily lives.
However, many Somalis inside Somalia perceive the latest US strike as an act of terrorism not that different
of what the deceased insurgent leader was accused of. They consider the US as enemy of the Somali
people who turned a blind eye to their suffering. They contest that the US is self-interestedly pursuing
unhelpful policies that will have the negative consequences, opposite of what it was supposed to
accomplish. They have their justifications: The US contracted Ethiopia for its "war on terror" to invade and
occupy Somalia after forces loyal to the Islamists defeated the terrible warlords and brought some
semblance of peace for six months in the summer of 2006. That peace has been spoiled. And the
consequences of the US supported invasion of Ethiopia into Somalia created one of the worst humanitarian
catastrophe in Africa.
The warlords are the real bad guys in Somalia but somehow they enjoy the support- both moral and
monetary - of the US administration which prides itself to be the leader of the free world that spreads
democracy; advocates human rights and freedom.
For narrow strategic reasons, The Bush administration had many times sided with the wrong groups in the
Somali conflict. They supported the bloody and brutal warlords in Mogadishu many times. These warlords
are now in the ineffective transitional government which has international legitimacy and support but
miserably failed to bring peace to Somalia or to put together even one governmental institution. Sadly
some of these sadistic warlords are rumored to be in the CIA payroll and the worst warlord was in
Washington DC recently getting unworthy red-carpet reception from State Department and Pentagon
officials.
Somali warlords with the backing and arming of Ethiopia have been the problem since Somali became a
failed state 18 years ago. They are responsible for the displacement of Millions of Somalis, mostly children
and women, the killing of half million Somalis, the destruction of cities, towns, rural villages and
infrastructure. Instead of these warlords being brought to justice and to the International Criminal Courts,
the International Community is working with these evil men and welcoming them into their fold. That is
unusual and opposite of what the leaders of the free world say about freedom and human rights.
The desire of the majority of the suffering Somalis whose life and property have been destroyed by the
sadistic warlords and the merciless occupying army of Ethiopia - supported and sustained by the US
government all in the name of war n terror - , is to see the US government also hunting and targeting the
warlords in Somalia with their superb and precise missiles. The names and locations of the warlords are
known to all and the majority of Somali people will unconditionally collaborate with all American spy
agencies to flatten these sadistic warlords into pieces with airstrikes. Since the United States is now in the
mood of hunting bad guys, why not continue the airstrikes and neutralization of all evil men? The US
interest in the strategic region of Horn of Africa not only lies with the removal of Al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist
groups by airstrikes but eliminating the evil warlords as well. Majority of the Somali people will be grateful
to the US administration if it undertakes such a noble act of humanity and assist millions of displaced and
suffering ordinary Somali citizens by getting rid of the bloody warlords or at least letting human rights
lawyers to bring the warlords to International Criminal Court of justice like Milosevic and Charles Taylor.
The warlords are only there to continue the misery of Somali people, escalate the violence, cleanse entire
neighborhoods, and above all undermine the international communities efforts to bring opposing factions
together. It is high time for the United States to end its unconditional support of the evil warlords.
Neutralization of all warlords is a sound and farsighted policy to secure peace in Somalia.
The elimination of the warlords from power will create an environment conducive to peace and opportunity
for American educated Somalis, with no blood in their hands and who have the interest of Somalia and the
United States at heart to take a leadership role in pacifying the region and protecting the mysterious
"strategic interest" of America in the region.
Abdulkadir Mohamed - Ato
abaadir@gmail.com
Warsame Abdilahi.
Jijigawe News.
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