ASMARA - A top Somalian opposition leader has vowed to fight until the withdrawal of all Ethiopian troops, ruling out peace talks with the transitional government.
"It is our belief that every individual in Somalia has to participate in the resistance and the defeat of the Ethiopian occupation," Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told AFP in the Eritrean capital.
"The more time goes by, the more Ethiopia will be resisted by the people, and they will be disliked by the international community because they are not carrying out what they said they will do," he said.
"They will become more isolated and have more failure in Somalia," he said.
Sheikh Sharif is chairman of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), an Islamist-dominated opposition coalition formed in September.
He was a top leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which briefly controlled large parts of Somalia before being ousted by government forces and Ethiopian troops earlier this year.
The armed branch of the ICU - accused by Washington of links to Al-Qaeda - and their tribal allies have since waged a guerrilla-style war in Mogadishu, targeting Somali and Ethiopian troops.
The violence has crippled Somalia’s ailing economy, left hundreds dead and forced tens of thousands to flee Mogadishu, fuelling popular resentment against the Ethiopian presence.
Sheikh Sharif ruled out talks with either Ethiopia or Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
"As long as the Ethiopian action in Somalia is to kill Somalis and make more atrocities, then there is nothing to talk about with Ethiopia," he said.
"As far as the Abdullahi Yusuf clique is concerned, they have no authority they are only a puppet of the Ethiopians, and as long as that situation prevails there is no question of negotiation with them."
Since the ouster of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has had no central authority and defied several initiatives aimed at ending bloody tribal feuds and restoring stability.
Source: AFP, November 8, 2007