Ethiopia invites faction leaders

Faction leaders opposed to the new interim government have been invited to Ethiopia, according to local Somalia media. The move by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was reported by Mogadishu-based papers ‘Ayaamaha’ and ‘Xog-Ogaal’, as well as the pro-Puntland (northeast) regional government radio. Faction leaders Hassan Muhammad Nur ‘Shatigadud’, Abdan Abdullahi Nur ‘Gabiyow’ and Muhammad Said ‘Morgan’ have arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, said ‘Xog-Ogaal’ on 25 December.

Leader of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, was also expected in Addis Ababa on 23 December, said the south Mogadishu-based daily ‘Qaran’.

Diplomatic sources told IRIN that Muhammad Said ‘Morgan’ had been seen receiving arms in Gode, capital of the Ethiopian Ogaden region, in December.

Ethiopian armed support for faction leaders ‘Shatigudud’ and ‘Morgan’ was “an open secret”, the source said.

Meanwhile, the independent Jamhuuriya daily from the self-declared state of Somaliland (northwest) said Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Salih, had recently alerted Arab heads of state that Ethiopia was interfering in the internal affairs of Somalia and was opposed to the new government.

According to the report, Salih had called for Arab states to adopt a common position and support interim president Abdiqassim Salad Hassan. Libya, Egypt and Yemen were prepared to send forces to back Abdiqassim, and Ethiopia was “very concerned” about this development, said Jamhuuriya on 26 December.