Premier says poverty to blame for terrorism

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, who has in recent months assumed something of a regional mantle in the global war on terrorism, has told a leading Arabic-language newspaper that poverty is the root cause of terrorism.

Speaking during an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, Meles also reiterated his belief that the radical Islamic group Al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI) was operating in Somalia and constituted the driving force behind that country's Transitional National Government (TNG), the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on Wednesday.

During the interview, Meles argued that terrorism could never be uprooted by punishing the terrorists alone, but that comprehensive strategies designed to tackle its root causes were the only way that the war on terrorism could succeed. Unless this was done, he said, killing one terrorist would simply breed another. Meles also said that although his country had received very little support in its own long-running campaign against terror, there was now security cooperation between his government and that of the United States.

Meles also spoke at length on the subject of Somalia, levelling particular criticism at the interim President, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, whom he called on to make clear whether he was "with the terrorists or against them". Abdiqassim has consistently denied any linkage between his government and AIAI, and has gone so far as to establish an anti-terrorism task force. But Walta quoted Meles as saying: "I do not believe [Abdiqassim] Salad is realistic when he dismisses any ties with AIAI."

Since the 11 September attacks, Meles has repeatedly stated that AIAI wields a strong influence over the TNG in Somalia. Regional analysts are, however, in sharp disagreement over the issue, with many arguing that AIAI ceased to be a force of any relevance following military defeat in the mid-1990s.