AU: Ethiopia has right to intervene
militarily in Somalia
ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU)
said Tuesday Ethiopia has the right to intervene militarily in Somalia as it
feels threatened by a fundamentalist militia operating there.
The African Union would not criticize Ethiopia as it had
"given us ample warning that it feels threatened by the Union of Islamic Courts
(UIC)," said Patrick Mazimhaka, deputy chairman of the AU Commission. Full Story
Ethiopia: Somalia's UIC fighters retreat in
disarray
ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia said on Tuesday
that Somalia' s Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fighters "were retreating in
disarray" because they were unable to resist the offensive by the Ethiopian
National Defense Forces and the forces of Somalia' s Transitional Federal
Government (TFG).
In a statement available to foreign media here, the
Ministry of Information said the attacks launched against the UIC were further
intensified in all fronts on Monday. Full Story
Somali Islamists say "at war" with
Ethiopia
BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Somalia's
Islamic forces are "at war with Ethiopia," a leader of Somalia's Union of
Islamic Courts (UIC) said Thursday.
"We are at war with Ethiopia, but not with the
(Somali) government," the leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, told the media
by telephone.
Somali ambassador warns against spread
of war
ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Somali Ambassador to
Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah warned here Sunday that the war in Somalia is likely to
spill out of the Horn of Africa country.
"The war is no longer the war of Somalia, there is a great
possibility of spreading across the region," he told journalists.
EU condemns escalation of conflict in
Somalia
BRUSSELS, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU)
condemned on Sunday the escalation of conflict in Somalia and asked for an
immediate cessation of hostilities.
"I condemn in the strongest terms the escalation of the
conflict in Somalia into an all-out war and appeal for all Somali sides to cease
immediately all hostilities," said Louis Michel, EU commissioner for development
and humanitarian aid, in a statement.
Arab League calls for dialogue to halt
fighting in Somalia
CAIRO, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Cairo-based Arab
League (AL)called Sunday on the warring factions in Somalia to halt fighting and
return to dialogue.
AL Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs
Ahmed bin Hilli made the call in an interview with Dubai-based al-Arabiya news
channel.
