Peter Martell
Monday, September 10, 2007
ASMARA (AFP) - Somalia's opposition leaders predicted Monday that a further surge in Islamist-led insurgency in the capital Mogadishu could defeat Ethiopian troops supporting the government there within two months.
"The liberation forces are gaining strength, day after day," said Zakariya Mahamud Abdi, spokesman of a congress in Eritrea's capital Asmara that has gathered Islamist leaders, exiled lawmakers, and diaspora representatives.
"There are streams of young men coming to Mogadishu to take part in the liberation [and], I assure you that, very soon, Somalis will liberate their country - maybe a matter of a month or two months," he told reporters.
Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of Somalia's embattled transitional government forces, last year, and ousted the Islamic Courts Union, which had briefly taken control of large parts of the country.
Since being defeated by Ethiopia's vastly-superior military machine, the insurgents have reverted to guerrilla tactics, launching daily hit-and-run attacks on government targets in Mogadishu.
Islamist and other opposition leaders boycotted a government-sponsored reconciliation meeting that wrapped up late last month, and organized their own congress hosted by Ethiopia's archfoe Eritrea.
The aim of the gathering is to create a unified opposition platform to end Ethiopian occupation of the Horn of Africa country.
"We will have a central command when we establish the organization, here," Abdi said.
Since the ouster of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has had no central authority, and has defied several initiatives aimed at ending bloody tribal feuds and restoring stability.
The Ethiopia-backed Somali government has blamed the Islamists for the Mogadishu violence, which leaves several civilians dead every day.
But Abdi returned the accusation, accusing Ethiopia of firing blindly into populated areas of the capital.
"Attacks have been carried out by liberation forces in several areas of Mogadishu, with heavy casualties reported suffered by the Ethiopian occupiers and their stooges," he said.
"They [Ethiopia] have indiscriminately shelled populated areas ... There have been civilian casualties."
Ethiopia accuses its neighbor Eritrea - with which it remains locked in a bitter border dispute - of supporting and arming the insurgency, as well as other Islamist rebels on its own soil, a charge Asmara denies.
Last week, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer repeated warnings Washington might add Eritrea to its list of states supporting terrorism.
Frazer has said the United States agrees with a recent report by UN experts linking Eritrea to weapons and cash for fighters in Somalia.
"It is regrettable that Ms. Frazer has unfairly accused the government of Eritrea of harboring what she calls a 'terrorist group,'" Abdi said.
"We are not terrorists, nor do we support any, but are victims of the unlawful Ethiopian occupation."
The US list of rogue states includes countries such as Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Cuba.
"The brotherly government of Eritrea has kindly offered a refuge for the Somali nationalist leaders who opposed the unlawful invasion and occupation of the murderous dictatorship, and oppressive regime in Addis Ababa," Abdi said.
Source: AFP, Sept 10, 2007