Minister says Ethiopian troops “known”

In an interview with the London-based Arabic paper ‘Al-Sharq al-Awsat’, the interior minister of the Somali Transitional National Government (TNG) Tahir Muhammad Shaykh said Ethiopia was interfering in Somalia’s internal affairs and had backed a recent attempt by opposition forces to seize control of the southern port of Kismayo. In the interview in Cairo, published on 10 August, Tahir said Ethiopian military forces had entered Somali territory and “penetrated a considerable distance in the direction of Kismayo through the Bidwa region”. He said there were “about 10,000 Ethiopian troops in three (Somali) provinces” and said an Ethiopian, “Colonel Tefsi”, was in charge of the troops, and was well known.

In the interview, Tahir dismisses a recent statement by the TNG foreign minister denying the presence of Ethiopian troops, and said the latest assertions by the TNG information minister that troops were present “expresses the Somali government’s official stand”. Tahir acknowledged “a difference in viewpoints” over the issue within the TNG. According to Tahir, Ethiopia had also unsuccessfully attempted to undermine the TNG in Lusaka, at the OAU summit, by bringing in opposition figures from various Somali clans. In the interview, he also talked about the intention of training about 20,000 Somali police with the assistance of Egypt, to be used in all areas of Somalia. He called for Arab states to back Somalia.

Ethiopia has consistently denied repeated accusations that it has a military presence in Somalia, and that it backs opposition factions. The Ethiopian government has said it has played a positive role in the Somali peace process.