Ethiopian rebels deny helping
Somali Islamists
22 September, 2009 | By Barry Malone
--------------------------------------------------
* Somali Islamists are our enemies, rebels say
* Rebels warn off oil and gas firms
(Reuters) - An Ethiopian rebel group denied on Tuesday it is helping
Islamist militants in neighbouring Somalia who are waging a violent
rebellion against the country's U.N.-backed government.
Al Shaabab, the main rebel group that Washington says is al Qaeda's
proxy in Somalia, on Sunday seized control of Yeed town on the border
with Ethiopia from Somali government forces in fighting that killed at
least 14 people.
A local governor said militiamen from the Ethiopian Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) helped al Shaabab drive out government forces
in the attack.
But the ONLF denied the reports of cooperation.
"The Ogaden National Liberation Front has no relationship whatsoever
with al Shaabab, which on several occasions has assassinated ONLF
members," it said in a statement.
"ONLF does not interfere in the internal affairs of Somalia and in fact
has so far supported the new transitional government, although aware of
the deep involvement of Ethiopia with some warlords working with the
current government."
Ethiopia entered Somalia in late 2006 to topple an Islamist movement in
the capital Mogadishu. The intervention sparked an insurgency that is
still raging despite the fact Ethiopian troops pulled out in January. ONLF
said the report linking it with al Shaabab was a plot by Addis Ababa to
discredit it.
Regional analysts say the ONLF and al Shaabab gunmen have clashed
on the border several times in recent years.
Ethiopia denounces the ONLF -- which demands independence for the
ethnic Somali eastern Ogaden region -- as a terrorist group supported by
long-time archrival Eritrea.
Ethiopia and Somalia have a long history of hostilities over Ogaden and
fought a war over the region in the 1907s.
Foreign oil and gas companies have long eyed the Ogaden which they
believe may be rich in mineral deposits.
The rebels warned companies last week against exploring the region. In
2007, the ONLF attacked an oil exploration field owned by a subsidiary
of Sinopec, China's biggest petrochemicals producer.
The separatist cause has been fuelled by the region's low level of
development. Until Chinese engineers arrived in the remote region in
2007, the entire area had only 30 km (20 miles) of tarmac road. (Editing
by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura and Jon Hemming)
Courtesy
Somali Islamists
22 September, 2009 | By Barry Malone
--------------------------------------------------
* Somali Islamists are our enemies, rebels say
* Rebels warn off oil and gas firms
(Reuters) - An Ethiopian rebel group denied on Tuesday it is helping
Islamist militants in neighbouring Somalia who are waging a violent
rebellion against the country's U.N.-backed government.
Al Shaabab, the main rebel group that Washington says is al Qaeda's
proxy in Somalia, on Sunday seized control of Yeed town on the border
with Ethiopia from Somali government forces in fighting that killed at
least 14 people.
A local governor said militiamen from the Ethiopian Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) helped al Shaabab drive out government forces
in the attack.
But the ONLF denied the reports of cooperation.
"The Ogaden National Liberation Front has no relationship whatsoever
with al Shaabab, which on several occasions has assassinated ONLF
members," it said in a statement.
"ONLF does not interfere in the internal affairs of Somalia and in fact
has so far supported the new transitional government, although aware of
the deep involvement of Ethiopia with some warlords working with the
current government."
Ethiopia entered Somalia in late 2006 to topple an Islamist movement in
the capital Mogadishu. The intervention sparked an insurgency that is
still raging despite the fact Ethiopian troops pulled out in January. ONLF
said the report linking it with al Shaabab was a plot by Addis Ababa to
discredit it.
Regional analysts say the ONLF and al Shaabab gunmen have clashed
on the border several times in recent years.
Ethiopia denounces the ONLF -- which demands independence for the
ethnic Somali eastern Ogaden region -- as a terrorist group supported by
long-time archrival Eritrea.
Ethiopia and Somalia have a long history of hostilities over Ogaden and
fought a war over the region in the 1907s.
Foreign oil and gas companies have long eyed the Ogaden which they
believe may be rich in mineral deposits.
The rebels warned companies last week against exploring the region. In
2007, the ONLF attacked an oil exploration field owned by a subsidiary
of Sinopec, China's biggest petrochemicals producer.
The separatist cause has been fuelled by the region's low level of
development. Until Chinese engineers arrived in the remote region in
2007, the entire area had only 30 km (20 miles) of tarmac road. (Editing
by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura and Jon Hemming)
Courtesy
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