Namrud Berhane

Addis Ababa, August 28, 2006 – “We call on Ethiopia to withdraw its forces from Somalia, otherwise be ready for full-scale war," Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, leader of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) of Somalia, warned on Thursday.

Ethiopia, despite numerous witnesses who say they have seen its troops in Somalia, has denied the statements.

Aweys' statement comes a decision made one week ago by defense chiefs from the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), that the first deployment of a nearly 7,000 African peace support force is to assemble in northeast Kenya near the Somali border late September. The troops are to be comprised of Sudanese and Ugandan soldiers.

"We say again that Ethiopian intervention in Somalia will never be accepted, no one can dare divert us onto a path other than Sharia law," added Aweys during an inauguration ceremony that saw the opening of Mogadishu's International seaport.

The Mogadishu International Port was closed in 1995 after rival warlords fought to control its revenues, but has reopened despite many claims by these same warlords the port was not operational due to piracy.

The first ship arrived at the port from Kenya on Thursday reportedly carrying coffee. Meanwhile, Eritrea has opposed the deployment of a peace support mission to Somalia, claiming that it would derail efforts by the UIC to restore calm and order in the country.

"Yet, instead of encouraging this internal initiative, various attempts are being made to pave the way for external military intervention so as to obstruct the aforementioned developments," Eritrea's ministry of information said in a statement published on its Website.

The statement added: "One of such attempts is the ridiculous proposition about the need of a peacekeeping mission in Somalia being advocated in the name of IGAD and the African Union, the latter being an organization that had uttered not a word during the Somali people's 16-year long plight."

Eritrea also said that the IGAD initiative would only serve Ethiopia's motive to invade Somalia.

"The only task this so-called peacekeeping mission will accomplish is to implement the [Ethiopia's ruling party's] own agenda and nothing more."

On Thursday several hundred gun men went into a town called Doul, some 40 kilometers south of Galkayo bordering Puntland.

There are reports that the UIC militia are preparing to fight the warlords in Bandiiradley, and expand their territory further north into Galkayo and the semi-autonomous north-eastern region of Puntland.

Warlords that were defeated and chased out of Mogadishu by the UIC are also bracing themselves for battle in Doul, according to reports from the residents of Galkayo.

In a related news, after broad consultations with the president and speaker of parliament of Somalia, the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Ali Mohamed Ghedi has announced the names of the 31 members of his new cabinet.

The previous cabinet formed in 2004 had more than 100 members and was sacked by the president after an internal disagreement led to the resignation of some 30 officials.

The announcement comes a week later than the August 14 deadline the President Abdillahi Yusuf had set for the nomination.

Many key members of the previous cabinet have maintained their posts.

With the exception of Hussein Aideed, all other ministers from Mogadishu have been excluded from the government since the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) have undermined their power base there.

The new cabinet has members from all the clans and armed factions. The UIC however has not been included and it is not yet clear how the new cabinet will help in initiating dialogue with the Islamic courts.

Some parliamentarians wanted to include the UIC in the new cabinet. The UIC are mostly of the Hawyie clan where the PM Ghedi comes from.

Source: The Reporter