Ethiopia denies backing possible attack on Kismayo

The chairman of the pro-interim government Juba Valley Alliance [JVA] militia based in Kismayo, Col Barre Adan Shire Hirale, has said his rival Gen Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan is preparing to attack the southern Somali port city. Hirale claimed that Morgan was receiving support from the government of Ethiopia and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia. "All his forces have been sent from Puntland with the approval of Col Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad [Puntland leader]," Hirale told IRIN. "Morgan is being armed and supported by Ethiopia and is currently in Gode [Ethiopia] awaiting more weapons." However, both Ethiopia and Puntland have strongly denied the accusations. Ethiopia's envoy to the Somali peace talks in Kenya, Abdi'aziz Ahmad, told IRIN his country knew of no plan by Morgan to attack Kismayo. "These accusations are baseless propagated by people who blame any differences, even with their wives, on Ethiopia," he stressed. "Ethiopia's interest lies in the successful conclusion of the peace talks and we would not do anything to jeopardise that." And Dahir Mire Jibril, an official spokesman for Abdullahi Yusuf, told IRIN that Puntland was not involved in "any planned attacks" on Kismayo. "The accusations are baseless," he said. "We don't want any fighting in Kismayo. On the contrary, we are encouraging both Morgan and Barre Hirale to settle things peacefully." But Hirale warned that any attack by Morgan would be met "with overwhelming force and he will be defeated". His forces were "on high alert" and were ready for any eventuality, he said. Kismayo, the third-largest city in Somalia, was under the control of Gen Morgan for most of the 1990s, until the JVA expelled his forces in June 1999.