Somali conflict crosses borders
Ethiopia accuses neighbors of supporting an ethnic Somali rebel group that attacked a Chinese-run oil installation this week, killing 74 people.
from the April 26, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Ethiopia blames neighbors
Ethiopian soldiers are now becoming mired in a battle against the hard-line remnants of the Islamists, who are believed to be receiving aid from Eritrea, a bitter rival of Ethiopia.
Yesterday the Ethiopian government was quick to link Eritrea and Somali extremists with the oilfield attack.
"The terrorist network that extends from [Eritrea's capital, Asmara] to Somalia and beyond has, once again, attacked and killed civilians," it said in a statement issued by its embassy in London.
A report published by the United Nations last year suggests that the ONLF had forged links with Somalia's Islamists and their Eritrean sponsors.
The arms-monitoring report revealed that ONLF leaders were frequent visitors to the Somali home of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys in the months before his Islamic Courts Union took control of Mogadishu and much of Somalia last year.
ONLF members traveled there to receive training and to collect arms sent from Eritrea, which has a history of supporting Ethiopia's opponents, according to the report published last May.
Sheikh Aweys is wanted by the US in connection with Islamic terrorism.
David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia, said: "In the past ONLF attacks have been significantly more modest than this, so to put together that size of a group – if the reports are accurate – is very surprising.
"It might indicate growing unrest in the region generally and particularly in Somalia itself, and that might be giving additional support to the ONLF in the Ogaden."
A Western diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was clear that the two elements were starting to think about combining. He said the ONLF would gain outside support while the Somali insurgents had an opportunity to make Ethiopia think twice about their deployment in Somalia.
"It's a wake-up call to the Ethiopian forces who are finding themselves overstretched and unable to defend themselves properly, because of their actions in Mogadishu," he said.
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