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Eritrea Will Fight to the Last Somali, not the Last Eritrean- Meles

The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
NEWS
December 2, 2006
Posted to the web December 4, 2006

By Namrud Berhane

Opposition parties on Thursday refrained from authorizing a resolution that
allowed the government to use military force against the Union of Islamic
Courts (UIC) in Somalia.
The resolution was however approved by 311 votes. 99 MPs voted against it while
16 abstained from voting.
The resolution holds that by declaring Jihad on Ethiopia, and by collaborating
with elements that have negative interest in Ethiopia, the Union of Islamic
Courts (UIC) represented "a clear and present danger" that warranted
retaliatory military measures.
The government believes that Eritrea is determined to destabilize Ethiopia via
Somalia and local rebel groups.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in Parliament that a front has been
established from Asmara to Mogadishu where in between local rebels were running
errands.
"Some people believe the problem of Ethiopia and Eritrea mainly has to do with
the contested border. They say that Eritrea is angered because Ethiopia won't
hand over Badme. There are two solutions; we could sit and negotiate - this is
a good and sane alternative, or we could, as Eritrea would want it, fight it
out. If they choose to take the second choice then it would be easier to fight
on the Ethiopian and Eritrean border given that there are no UN peace keepers
and we are just 500 meters away. Why do they have to travel thousands of miles
to Mogadishu for Badme?"
The reason, according to Meles, is the vested interest of the Eritrean
government to destabilize Ethiopia by creating ethnic and religious upheavals.
"The Eritrean government believes that a strong and united Ethiopia will, in
the future, be a thorn to it. To remove this thorn "the Eritrean government is
determined to fight to the last Somali, not the last Eritrean," Meles said.
The Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), Oromo Federalist Democratic
Movement (OFDM) and United Ethiopian Democratic Front (UEDF) said they had
reservations on some points that were included in the resolution.
Leaders of the parties mainly raised three points that they said were
restrictive to back the resolution fully.
These were the question of whether the resolution was not a declaration of war,
whether the situation did warrant such a resolution, and thirdly the inclusion
of Eritrea and local rebel groups in the document. The last point was commonly
shared by all who were against the resolution.
According to Professor Beyene Petros, UEDF lacked clarity on whether the
resolution did not constitute a declaration of war and if the situation
actually did warrant such a resolution. Beyene said his opposition was one of
conscience and not political.
"If sporadic incursion warranted declaration of war, there would be no peace
any where. Here, we are only being told of sporadic incursions and there is
nothing to show us the commission an act of invasion. Therefore we do not
believe the threat is being appropriately defined and that it justifies such
resolution."
UEDF argued that a sub-article that dealt with local rebel groups should not
have been included since it was an internal affair. His view on this point was
shared by Bulcha Demeksa of OFDM.
Bulcha said while it was clear to him that there was an aggression and the
resolution was appropriate, he could not accept the inclusion of Eritrea and
local groups in a matter that was "unrelated".
"We had asked whether this resolution did not constitute a pre-emptive strike,
and during the discussions the prime minister explained that it was not us who
took the first offensive, that it was our people who were killed first and I
have been convinced on that part."
"On going to war, I am of the position that any country has the right to defend
itself, therefore I have no questions on that part."
With regard to those two points on Eritrea and Ethiopian rebel groups, he
reasoned they would aggravate an internal problem which already exists, and
lead to more bloodshed between Ethiopians and the brotherly people of Eritrea.
"We have pleaded that the issues being raised in those two sub-articles and the
issue of the Islamic courts are separate and should not be lumped together. But
we have not been able to have them removed. If it were a resolution that stated
that we were to fight against external aggressors, who would oppose it?"
CUD's Temesgen Zewdie argued along the same lines and said his party was
completely against passing the resolution.
Lidetu Ayalew of Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) - the only opposition party
that backed the resolution - said that he was fully convinced that the
resolution was appropriate and necessary.
He said, in times of aggression, it was also characteristic of Ethiopians to
stand together despite their differences and that this should be maintained.
Ambassador Mohammud Drir of the Somali Peoples Democratic Party said he fully
backed the resolution, believing the threat is real.
He described how the Somali Region had been affected by groups that were being
supported by Eritrea and now the UIC. "We are not talking of a presumed
threat."
"Therefore, "he said, "the resolution is not a declaration of war but an
authorization to use an inherent right to defend one's sovereignty."
Gonfa Fenta of the Parliament Group also expressed his full support saying that
all aggression aimed at the country from Eritrea and other external enemies
deserved proportional measures.
A recent UN report that revealed the involvement of various countries in
Somalia also mentioned Ethiopian rebel groups fighting alongside the UIC. It
also indicated that these groups were being trained by Eritrea.
Following that report, on Thursday, the UN ruled against sending peacekeepers
into Somalia but to tighten the arms embargo that was imposed since 1991.
Observers believe the embargo has been ineffective.
IGAD had been pushing for a peace support mission to go into Somalia.
The move however was cut short when the UIC protested and took military
preventive measures.


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