Islamic militias threaten war on Ethiopia

Published on Wednesday 13 December 2006 01:36

SOMALIA'S Islamic militias yesterday warned Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from the Horn of Africa nation within a week or face war.

The militias, who dominate most of the south, said Ethiopia, a largely Christian country, has at least 30,000 troops in Somalia near the provincial town of Baidoa, where an internationally-recognised interim government is based.

Ethiopia, the West and the United Nations back the government, but its power does not extend beyond the town.

"Starting today, if the Ethiopians don't leave our land within seven days, we will attack them and force them to leave our country," Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad Indaade, the militias defence chief said.

Addis Ababa scoffed at the threat, while the UN urged the militias not to start a war that many have been fearing for months and which could spread across the region.

"I hope they will not be the beginners of this. They should avoid statements that inflame an already critical situation," Francois Lonseny Fall the UN envoy to Somalia, said.

The Islamic militias took Mogadishu and a swathe of southern Somalia in June, threatening the authority of the interim government of president Abdullahi Yusuf.

Diplomats and witnesses say thousands of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border to protect president Yusuf's government.

Addis Ababa only acknowledges sending several hundred armed advisers. With Ethiopia's enemy Eritrea accused of backing the militias by sending arms and advisers many fear a regional war.