Story by DAVID MUGONYI

Mr. Moses Wetangula

Nairobi, December 27, 2006 – Kenya has asked Ethiopia to stop strikes against the Somalia Islamic militia.

Foreign Affairs assistant minister Moses Wetang’ula said that Ethiopia as a member of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad), should not take an unilateral decisions.

Mr. Wetang’ula added, the security forces were on high alert following the fighting in Somalia.

He said the Government had appealed to Ethiopia to cease the strikes so as to give dialogue a chance.

”We have urged Ethiopia as an Igad member to stop making unilateral decisions on Somalia and only engage through organs of Igad,” Mr. Wetang’ula said on phone.

The assistant minister, who was accompanied by Kenya’s ambassador to Somalia Mohamed Affey said: “We do not believe problems of Somalia will be solved through military means. We believe this issue can be solved through dialogue.”

”What is going on there is worrying. We, as the chair of Igad and considering the Somalia Transitional Federal Government is our baby; we don’t want something born in our hands to die in our hands,” Mr. Wetang’ula added.

Ambassador to Somali Muhammed Affey

He said Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju was preparing an emergency Igad council of ministers meeting to discuss developments in Somalia.

”We are contacting Igad countries to see how soon such a session can be convened,” Mr. Wetang’ula added.

The assistant minister said they had talked to the leaders of the Islamic Courts and Transitional Federal Government (TFG), who had agreed to meet.

He, however, said there was no reason for the violence in Somalia to spill over to Kenya.

Mr. Wetang’ula said the problem in Somalia could be solved, adding, Islamic Courts leaders and TFG had agreed to observe a ceasefire.

He said the influx of refugees into the country was likely to go up because of the deteriorating situation in Somalia.

Mr. Wetang’ula added the military, police and immigration officers on the border were on high alert.

However, the Ethiopian envoy said their forces were 70 kilometers from Mogadishu and could capture it within a day or two.

The week-long fighting between Ethiopian forces, who back the Federal government based in Baidoa, has seen the Islamist fighters retreat after losing key major towns they had captured a few months back.

But the Islamist fighters said the withdrawal was a tactic in what they vowed would be a long war.

An official said they would not accept Ethiopian troops to occupy its soil to protect “ a government not supported by its people”.

Both sides have claimed they have inflicted heavy casualties on their opponents.

Mr. Affey said: “We are appealing to the parties to stop the war because we, as a neighbor, have done everything possible to form a Government to represent Somalia.”

The ambassador said the security situation in Somalia affects the Kenyan economy but there was no reason to panic.

  We are engaging in diplomatic intervention to forestall intensity of the war. We are in contact with all the parties — TSG and Islamic Courts.

The ambassador added: “We talked this morning to the leadership of Islamic Courts and the Government in Baidoa and I think you will see a more visible Igad soon.”

Ethiopia fears the Islamic Courts Union could create a hard-line Muslim state and accuses them of wanting to annex Ogaden region.

The Islamists recently declared they had support from Somalis living in Kenya.

TFG minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Ismael Mohamud Hurreh, said their intention is to “clean the Islamic Courts Union from all the regions”.

Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Mr. Hurreh, who was accompanied by deputy prime minister and minister for Constitutional Affairs, Mr. Abdulsheikh Ismael, urged countries neighboring Somalia to be on alert as Al Qaeda operatives were now escaping.

"The TFG council of ministers sat and prohibited unauthorized movement in its borders on land, sea and in the air.”

”Some Al Qaeda operatives who had come to assist the Islamic fighters want to escape,” Mr. Hurreh said at Somali embassy in Nairobi.

He urged the international community to watch over the Indian Ocean which the “terrorists” and other supporters from Eritrea might use to escape.

Mr. Hurreh said they were now focused on capturing Mogadishu and Kismayo

He said residents in the two cities were dissatisfied by the leadership of the courts and a “major uprising” against them was in the offing.

Mr. Hurreh defended the decision by Ethiopia to assist the TFG fight the militia saying the Government had asked neighboring nations to assist training its forces and provide necessary logistics for the army.

In addition, he added, if the TFG was under threat, then neighbors should come to its assistance.

”We have asked Ethiopia to assist us, ” he said.

Mr. Hurreh said the Islamic Courts leaders were not interested in peace adding their intention was to overthrow TFG.

”Ethiopian forces are on their way to Mogadishu. They are about 70km (40 miles) away and it is possible they could capture it in the next 24 to 48 hours,” Somalia’s ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa.

However, the Islamists said any attempt to take Mogadishu would end in disaster for the attackers.

“It will be their destruction and doomsday,” Islamist spokesman Abdi Kafi told Reuters.  

Source: The Nation

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