Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 4, 2007 – The opposition party, KULMIYE, is said to have received a letter of reply from the Ethiopian government which mainly criticizes the party's position regarding southern Somalia and Ethiopia's war against the [Islamic] Courts that governed Mogadishu.

According to informed sources, the letter is made up of eight pages. It is not known how it was delivered to the party.

This response [from the Ethiopians] had been predicted and comes after some KULMIYE Party officials called for a meeting with Ethiopian officials. The letter is said to urge the party to contact the Ethiopian embassy in Hargeysa.

Ethiopia made it clear to KULMIYE Party it was keen to see peace and stability in Somaliland. This position is said to be contained in the letter of reply.

The opposition parties (KULMIYE and UCID) late last year jointly convened an open debate which brought together all segments of society to discuss the possible repercussions of what was then happening in southern Somalia. The two parties did not at the time come out clearly in support of the Union of Islamic Courts. However, the feeling then was that the Ethiopian ambassador, Wibshet Dimise - who was invited to the forum and followed the proceedings through translation - did not like some of the speeches made at the forum.

The chairman of UCID, Eng Faysal Ali Warabe, has in the past said Ethiopia's intervention in southern Somalia can cause instability in the Horn of Africa. However, he has been modifying his position recently as some of his latest speeches show; at times saying Somaliland had many things in common with Ethiopia and its people.

Source: BBC Monitoring