Addis lashes out at Somali government

Ethiopia has said Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) is trying to “scuttle” the country’s forthcoming peace talks after the TNG accused Addis Ababa of meddling in Somali politics.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said the government was determined to drive forward the peace process at the forthcoming national reconciliation conference in Nairobi. But it claimed that the various faction leaders in Somalia had not accepted the TNG as a broad-based government. The ministry also called on the TNG to be "more realistic" and accept that only a negotiated deal in the talks would bring peace to Somalia.

On Friday, Somalia's ambassador to the UN, Ahmad Abdi Hashi, appealed for imposing sanctions on Ethiopia, saying it had sent troops into Somalia and was involved in the latest fighting in Gedo Region. "Ethiopia wants a balkanised Somalia with small fiefdoms it can rule over," he told a news conference, according to media organisations. "They are becoming the bully of the subregion, and that should not be allowed."

The TNG prime minister, Hasan Abshir Farah, told IRIN on Tuesday that his government was "ready for reconciliation". However, he stressed, that so long as Ethiopia "is occupying and invading parts of Somalia and pouring arms into the country, it cannot be an honest broker in the reconciliation talks".

"Ethiopia must choose whether to remain as part of the problem of Somalia or part of the solution. It cannot have it both ways," he said.

The peace talks – organised by the regional grouping Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) - in Nairobi are aimed at establishing a broad-based government in Somalia. They were postponed in April, and the Kenyan authorities now say they will be held in June or July.

The Ethiopian statement denied that Addis Ababa was involved in the Gedo fighting. “There has been no, absolutely no, Ethiopian involvement,” it said. “Let it be made clear that Ethiopia remains determined to ensure that the IGAD efforts will succeed."

It accused the TNG of having its own agenda and of trying to "blackmail" Ethiopia. "It is in this light that the latest accusation to the United Nations by the TNG against Ethiopia should be viewed," it stated. “Ethiopia simply cannot flatter the TNG by proclaiming that a legitimate and all-inclusive government has been established in Somalia."

“There is absolutely no doubt that the latest accusation against Ethiopia by the TNG over alleged interference in Somalia is designed to scuttle the ongoing effort by IGAD," the statement added.

Thousands of Somali refugees have fled from the border town of Bulo Hawa into the Kenyan town of Mandera over the past month to escape fighting between rival militias. A Bulo Hawa elder, who crossed into Mandera, told IRIN that at least nine people had been killed in the fighting and 13 wounded. He said militia fighters were engaged in the "wholesale looting" of Bulo Hawa.

Humanitarian sources in Mandera told IRIN that the security and humanitarian situation of the refugees was becoming "increasingly difficult". [See also IRIN report]