Jabhad Posted December 14, 2006 Ethiopia must quit Somalia before any talks-Islamist Thu 14 Dec 2006 16:11:43 GMT ADEN, Dec 14 (Reuters) - A senior leader of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC), which controls most of Somalia, said on Thursday it would only hold talks with Ethiopia after the neighbouring African state withdrew its troops. Islamists in Mogadishu have already threatened to attack Ethiopian troops unless they leave Somalia by Tuesday. The defence chief for the Mogadishu-based Islamists said Ethiopia had until Dec. 19 to remove the more than 30,000 troops they say it has on Somali soil to bolster the administration of President Abdullahi Yusuf in Baidoa, the only town under government control. Ethiopia says it has several hundred military trainers in Somalia. "We are ready to speak to the Ethiopians if they leave Somalia. Otherwise their fate will be defeat and we will fight them until we evict them from Somalia," Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told the state-owned Yemeni satellite channel from Aden where he arrived on Wednesday for talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Sheikh Sharif said he discussed with Saleh a Yemeni peace initiative for reconciliation between Somali factions. He did not elaborate. The Islamists' deadline for Ethiopian withdrawal has heightened fears of all-out war in Somalia where there have been skirmishes between reconnaissance teams from government and Islamist forces close to each other near Baidoa. The Islamists took Mogadishu in June and have expanded across south Somalia since then. Many countries fear any war in Somalia could inflame the Horn of Africa and spread south into Kenya and beyond. A U.N. monitoring group reported last month that Yemen, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Uganda were all providing military support to the authorities or the Islamists in violation of a 1992 U.N. arms embargo. More pics @ www.qaadisiya.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
