Leave Somalia Or Face All-Out War, Ethiopia Told

Asmara, Eritrea, April 18, 2007 – Ethiopia must withdraw its troops from Somalia immediately or face an all-out war that "no army" could resist, three senior Somali leaders warned on Wednesday.

The three, including top Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hussein Aidid, who holds a post in Somalia's government, were meeting in the Eritrean capital for talks.

Aidid said Somalis will unite against the "brutal occupation" of Ethiopian forces, who earlier this year helped the government's armed forces wrest control of much of Somalia from an Islamist movement.

"Up until now we [have used] dialogue to remove them but if they refuse to cooperate ... we will set everything aside to remove the Ethiopians ourselves," Aidid told reporters.

Sporadic fighting has continued between Ethiopian troops and insurgents in Mogadishu since government troops returned to the capital.

The three leaders, who shared a stage under a Somali map emblazoned with a dove and the logo " Somalia for Somalis", warned that the situation in the war-torn nation would deteriorate if Ethiopia failed to withdraw.

"Less than 10% of our forces are on the ground against the Ethiopians. No army, I can tell you that, can stop what is coming up," Aidid said.

Aidid, who holds the post of deputy prime minister and housing minister and is a member of the Hawiye clan that holds sway in the capital, Mogadishu, said the three leaders only wanted to work for peace in Somalia.

"The aim is to create dialogue among our people after 16 years of civil war to act as a platform for reconciliation," he said.

Despite his government posts, Aidid has openly opposed the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia.

The third leader, Sheikh Sharif Hassan Aden, was ousted from his post as Parliament speaker in January. He was accused of being too close to the Islamists.

Eritrea , which has been accused of backing the Islamists, has called for Ethiopia to withdraw its troops. Asmara rejects the accusations.

Analysts have expressed fears that Ethiopia and Eritrea, still at odds over their unresolved 1998 to 2000 border conflict, may fight a proxy war in Somalia.

Somalia has lacked an effective central government since the ousting of former dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991 touched off a bloody power struggle that exploded into inter-clan warfare.

More than 14 attempts to restore a functional government in Somalia have since failed.

Source: AFP