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Eritrea Urges Ethiopia to Withdraw Its Troops From Somalia

Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
NEWS
December 23, 2006
Posted to the web December 23, 2006

By Aweys Osman Yusuf
Mogadishu
The Eritrean government has denied Ethiopian accusations that it was
destabilizing the peace in Somalia. Eritrean president Isaias Afewerke said
Somalia does not need any Eritrean troops, rebuffing that a single Eritrean
soldier was lingering in Somalia.
"The Ethiopian troops are definitely in Somalia and they intend to capture
Somalia. The current internal conflicts in Somalia were sparked by the
Ethiopian military forces in the country", he reiterated.
The reaction came after the Ethiopian government laid blame on rival Eritrea
for arming the Islamic Courts Union and having military troops that are
fighting alongside with Islamists.
The two arch-enemies fought a 1998 to 2000 border war and still have border
disputes.
Both countries, which were among Middle Eastern and African countries accused
in a UN report last month of meddling Somalia's internal affairs, exchange a
rhetoric of accusations.
Afewerke urges Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from Somalia and give Somalis
alone the chance to solve their differences.
Somalia has had no affective central government since 1991 when tribal warlords
toppled former president Siad Barre.


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