Ethiopia-Somalia Relations

[Jacaylbaro]

For over four decades, relations between successive Ethiopian governments and Somalia have been poor. Somalia invaded Ethiopia twice in the 1960s under Emperor Haile Selassie and in 1976 during the Mengistu Haile Mariam military rule. In the first war, the Ethiopian military commander General Aman Andom defeated Somali forces, but his request to go inside Somalia was rejected by the Emperor, and he was ordered to remain behind the border.

 

The 1976 invasion of Ethiopia by Somali forces and the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) initially succeeded, leading to the capture of many Ethiopian towns by Somali forces. Somali forces briefly captured the third-largest city, Dire Dawa, in Eastern Ethiopia. However, Ethiopian forces, with the support of Cuban and South Yemeni forces, were able to defeat the Somali forces, although elements of the Somali rebel forces remained in control of remote areas in the largely Somali inhabited areas of Ethiopia.

 

Both Ethiopian and Somali governments intervened in the internal affairs of the two countries, and successive governments on both sides supported each others’ armed opposition groups. The current president of the Transitional Federal Government, President Abdullahi Yusuf, was one of the first to receive Ethiopia’s assistance after he fled Somalia in the late 1970s. He was one of the first senior officials to challenge the Siad Barre government. Ethiopia was also the principal backer of the Somali National Movement (SNM), the group that liberated the northwest region of Somalia, currently known as Somaliland.

 

The change of government in Ethiopia did not end Ethiopia’s intervention in Somali affairs. The current government of Ethiopia became a key backer of a number of Somali factions and leaders, including the current president of the TFG, Abdullahi Yusuf, Hussein Aideed, and other Somali factions.

 

The Barre government was also a major sponsor of Ethiopian armed rebel groups. The current ruling party of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), received assistance from Somali authorities and a number of the EPRDF leaders reportedly carried Somali-issued passports. Other rebel groups, including the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), also received assistance from Somalia.

 

The ouster of the Siad Barre government and the absence of a central government in Somalia ended support for Ethiopian armed groups, although some Somali factions continue to support the ONLF. For most of the 1990s, Ethiopia’s primary concern was Al-Ittihad in Somalia and its activities in support of the ONLF.

 

Al-Ittihad and ONLF carried out a number of attacks against Ethiopian targets, and Ethiopian security forces have violently retaliated against these groups and their supporters. The fighting with Al-Ittihad was triggered in the early 1990s when Ethiopian security forces brutally cracked down on the ****** National Liberation Front, a member of the first transitional government of Ethiopia.

 

The ONLF joined the transitional government of Ethiopia in part because the Ethiopian Transitional Charter provided nations and nationalities the right to self determination; however, the ONLF push for self determination created tension between the ruling EPRDF and the ONLF.

 

In the early 1990s, Ethiopian security forces assassinated a number of ONLF leaders, cracked down on the organization, and moved the Ethiopian Somali region capital from Gode to Jijiga, a central government stronghold. Members of the ONLF fled to Somalia and were embraced by Al-Ittihad, a fairly new group at that time. Hence, some observers view Al-Ittihad as a group largely concerned with domestic issues.

 

Ethiopia’s principal interest at that time was to ensure that a united Somalia did not pose a threat to Ethiopia and that the Somali-inhabited region of Ethiopia Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace. Ethiopian forces attacked Somalia a number of times over the past decade and often maintained presence inside Somali territory. Ethiopia’s relationship with the current president of the TFG was strengthened when Yusuf backed Ethiopia’s efforts against Al-Ittihad in

the 1990s.

 

The Ethiopian government’s animosity towards the ousted Shura leader of the Islamic Courts, Sheik Aweys, is linked to Aweys’ role as one of the leaders of Al-Ittihad fighting against Ethiopia and that of Abdullahi Yusuf.

 

In 2004, the government of Ethiopia released a report, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s Foreign Policy, Security Policy and Strategy. The 158-page report covers a wide range of issues, including Ethiopia’s assessment of its relations with Somalia. The report states that Somalia attacked Ethiopia twice in pursuit of its Greater Somalia ambition. The report notes that “at this time the Greater Somalia agenda has failed.” Moreover, the Greater Somalia agenda no longer poses a serious threat to Ethiopia.

 

The report contends that the factionalization of Somalia has allowed anti-peace and extremists elements to become strong, posing a threat to Ethiopia. In order to reduce the threat from some parts of Somalia, the Ethiopian government must pursue a policy of engagement and support to Puntland and Somaliland, according to the report. The report also recommends a policy of targeting those armed elements that threaten Ethiopian security. This report was released two years before the Islamic Courts emerged, although the report gave the same labels of extremist, terrorist, and anti-peace to groups that were dominant at that time.

 

 

Source: Congressional research service

[Mayaani]

clear policy divide and rule. doqon baan ogen.