Somali Islamic Militia Ponders Holy War Against Ethiopia

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of the Somali Islamic militia which has been controlling a great part of Somalia, including the capital city of the country, for two months now, issued a virulent statement yesterday against the Ethiopian administration, because it continues to send troops to protect the UN-supported interim Somali government.

In an angry broadcast for Radio Shabelle, Aweys warned largely Christian-based Ethiopia that a holy war is awaiting it if it continues to pursue this line of policy of deploying troops to the government's base, situated in Baidoa, 250 kilometers northwest of the capital Mogadishu, in order to back what he described as a "puppet regime": ""I am calling on the Somali people to wage a holy war against Ethiopians in Baidoa. They came to protect a government which they set up to advance their interests. We must defend our sovereignty".

He also labeled current interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, his political rival, as being "a servant of Ethiopia" for quite a long time.

Moreover, the Islamic group organized a plethora of anti-Ethiopia demonstrations yesterday in Mogadishu, killing two civilians for joining a counter-demonstration.

In the meantime, many Baidoa local residents have declared that they saw hundreds of Ethiopian troops, given the specific uniforms and marked vehicles, entering the city on Thursday and assuming their position around the presidential compound. Moreover, locals from five other cities have confirmed that they had spotted the presence of Ethiopian troops within the country. However, both the Ethiopian and Somali administrations have denied such reports, explaining that the military units the population has seen are actually Somali troops, too, yet they were wearing Ethiopia-donated military uniforms.