KENYA: SOMALI MP'S CLAIM ETHIOPIAN TROOPS HAVE ATTACKED WESTERN BORDER

Record ID: 355617

  • Title: KENYA: SOMALI MP'S CLAIM ETHIOPIAN TROOPS HAVE ATTACKED WESTERN BORDER
  • Date: 10th May 2005
  • Summary: (BN12) NAIROBI, KENYA (MAY10, 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV OF NEWS CONFERENCE 0.02 2. MCU (English) SOMALI MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, ABDALLAH ALI HAJI, SAYING: "We confirm that the Ethiopian government has supplied these militias armaments ammunition and personnel. Units of Ethiopian regular troops are known and can be confirmed to have crossed d
  • Embargoed: 25th May 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NAIROBI, KENYA
  • Country: Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVAA4Y08EQQF7ETTDKZTSQ4YA1DC
  • Story Text: Somali MP's claim Ethiopian troops attack Western
    border.


    A group of Somali lawmakers accused neighbouring
    Ethiopia on Tuesday (May 10) of sending troops over the
    border in support of allied warlords, saying the move could
    plunge the ruined country into a fresh round of fighting.

    At the news conference Abdallah Ali Haji, a Somali MP,
    named ministers and heads of factional militia who
    apparently are being armed by Ethiopia. The leaders
    appealed to the international community to intercede and
    stop the looming violent conflict which would jeopardize
    the gains from the recent peace deals.

    "We confirm that the Ethiopian government has supplied
    these militias armaments ammunition and personnel. Units of
    Ethiopian regular troops are known and can be confirmed to
    have crossed deep into the Somali territory, fully engage
    into conflict and probably attacking Baidoa very soon. We
    consider these actions by the Ethiopian government unlawful
    and violations to the Security Council resolutions,"
    Abdallah told reporters at the conference.

    However Ethiopia which has in the past invaded Somalia
    in pursuit of Islamic Fundamentalist groups, swiftly denied
    the accusation by the group of Somali members of parliament
    that it was sending troops and arms into their country as
    false aimed at creating discord between the two neighbours.

    Somalia collapsed into chaos after the overthrow of
    military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991. Conflict and
    famine have killed hundreds of thousands of people since
    then.

    Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf is a friend of
    Ethiopia, the region's top military power, but he has no
    powerbase in Mogadishu. Many Somalis are hostile to what
    they see as attempts by their huge, nominally Christian-led
    neighbour to dictate events in the region.
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