Garowe Online (Garowe)
2 February 2008
Garowe — Somali insurgents waging war on the country's transitional federal government are responsible for the continued presence of the Ethiopian army in the country, the parliament Speaker said today.
Speaker Sheikh Adan "Madobe" Mohamed told a press conference in the south-central town of Baidoa on Saturday that Ethiopian troops will remain inside Somalia as long as insurgents continue to attack the government and its Ethiopian military allies.
"If we return peace to our country [Somalia] and uphold the law, then Ethiopian troops or other foreign troops will not be in our country," Speaker Madobe said.
He condemned insurgents who conduct near-daily attacks on the positions of Somali and Ethiopian government troops, and assassinate government officials in targeted killings.
"The so-called 'anti-government group'...I don't believe this [anti-government] is their intention, but they are the group who want to keep Ethiopian troops in our country [Somalia]," he said.
He pointed to the insurgents' ceaseless attacks as evidence that the insurgents want to keep foreign troops inside Somalia.
Speaker Madobe said the federal government is "running out of patience" with insurgent attacks, most recently inside parts of Bay region, where the parliament base Baidoa is located.
He advised the government's political opposition to join the road to peaceful negotiation, but if these groups refuse peace, then the government "will fight them [opposition]."
Political analysts said these public comments on Ethiopian troops are the toughest words from Speaker Madobe, who assumed parliamentary leadership one year ago.
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Ethiopia: 100 Reported Dead After Soldiers Target Civilians in Gambella
allAfrica.com 15 December 2003 Posted to the web 15 December 2003
Charles Cobb Jr. Washington, DC
Soldiers in the town of Gambella, 450km (280 miles) west of Addis Ababa, are reported to have engaged since Saturday in violent attacks against leading members of a local ethnic group, leaving 100 or more people dead. But local sources say the soldiers' action looked more like a punishment operation against Anuak people. A US church source who wished to remain anonymous for fear of compromising his church's contacts in Gambella, told allAfrica.com: "It is reported to me that over 200 people have been killed." According to this source, the Ethiopian military police on Saturday started "pulling out educated people and community leaders" and "killing them with guns or by slitting their throats;" he said local people believed Anuaks were specifically targeted. He quoted missionary sources in Addis Ababa as reporting that Anuak students at Gambella's Teacher Training Institute had been rounded up and taken away, Monday morning. He said sources in Gambella city had told him that the Catholic church compound was full of people taking refuge from the violence and that they had almost no supplies. "People have not been able to come out of their compounds for fear of being shot. It is the third day and citizens are concerned for their children having no food and water," he said. Citing "chaotic" scenes, he mentioned a case of two people who tried to retrieve bodies from the street and were themselves shot. A local church official reported Monday that there were five bodies outside his house but he could not risk going out to remove them. A US citizen has reportedly been arrested by the soldiers. Omot Omot Bewar, formerly a refugee from the area who came to the US seeking asylum is currently in Gambella on a visit to his former home. According to friends in Minnesota where he is normally a student, he attempted to video the violence and was beaten and detained. A BBC report cited "humanitarian sources" as charging that Anuaks are the targets of violence by "highland Ethiopians." The army is "involved in restoring stability and order," an Ethiopian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Associated Press on condition of anonymity. She said an investigation is under way. Recent oil exploration agreements with multinationals have fueled tensions over land rights amid jockeying for control of potentially lucrative oil fields. Under a deal signed in June, Petronas has exclusive rights to "explore and develop" some 15,000 square kilometers in the region, which borders Sudan - a major African oil producer.
Dear Editor, How much more innocent defensless African civilian families need to be slaughtered by the Ethiopian government in the services to Western Oil Corporations???