ADDIS ABABA, July 1 (Reuters) – Ethiopia on Wednesday dismissed a threat of invasion from Somalia’s Islamist rebels who say Ethiopian troops have crossed back into the chaotic Horn of Africa country they withdrew from in January.
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in 2006 to oust an Islamist movement — in which Sheik Sharif Ahmed, now the country’s president, played a role — from the capital Mogadishu. That sparked an Islamist insurgency which is still raging despite their withdrawal.
Hardline Islamist group al Shabaab on Tuesday threatened to attack Ethiopia, urging its fighters to wage jihad against its neighbour.
“We have heard the declaration of war from al Shabaab,” Ethiopian government head of information Bereket Simon told Reuters. “But we know for sure that this declaration cannot be quickly translated into action.”
“We cannot say this is a clear and present danger to Ethiopia,” Bereket said.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said last week possible suicide attacks in Ethiopia by Somali Islamist rebels were a threat he “didn’t expect to go away any time soon”.
Witnesses have said heavily armed columns of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border and are in several parts of Somalia. The Ethiopian government has repeatedly denied that, saying these reports have come from the Somali hardliners and are designed to mobilise support for the insurgency.
NO PLANS TO RETURN
Ethiopia’s Meles has not ruled out sending back troops to Somalia if his country is threatened but says he is waiting to see how the international community responds to the deteriorating security situation in the country.
“If we were attacked, we would defend ourselves,” Bereket said. “But we still have no plans to send troops back in. They don’t have the ability to endanger us now.”
President Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, fled into exile after the Ethiopian intervention but joined a peace process last year and was elected in January. His government is battling hardline insurgents who were once allies in the Islamist movement.
Addis Ababa has said it supports the new government, but is wary of the hardline Islamists because they control large areas of Somalia and have threatened to destabilise neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya.
With reports of foreign jihadists streaming into Somalia, Western nations are worried al Qaeda may get a grip on a failed state that has been without central government for 18 years. (Editing by David Clarke and Mark Trevelyan)
