Ethiopian diplomat rebuked for Somalia comments

The government of Djibouti has criticised comments made by Ethiopia's ambassador to the UN regarding Somalia, and warned that any "interference" in that country would threaten regional stability. In a recent interview with Reuters news agency, the envoy, Abd al-Majid Husayn, said Muslim extremists should not be allowed to "infiltrate" Somalia. "If you allow these people to infiltrate Somalia, our multicultural, multi-religious and multiethnic country will pay a price," he told the news agency. "If the Somalis don't solve their problems, then we will do it for them... We won't wait for ever." But in a strongly worded statement, the Djibouti foreign ministry said Husayn's remarks "seriously damage the prospects for peace". The statement noted that countries of the regional grouping, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), were due to hold a Somali reconciliation conference in Kenya in April. Such comments, it said, "dash the hopes that Somalis and the international community have placed on this conference". "The recent remarks made by the ambassador... constitute a serious act of interference, which poses a threat to regional stability," the statement said. As a result, the government of Djibouti was "deeply anxious". "The sabre-rattling by Mr Abd al-Majid... is based on the idea that there is a fundamentalist threat and an imaginary terrorist network," the statement added. "It is up to the Somali people, and they alone, to find a solution to their differences through dialogue and reconciliation."