AFD
STATEMENT ON PROSPECTS OF WAR BETWEEN SOMALIA
AND THE REGIME IN ETHIOPIA
November 28, 2006
In its statement of June 5, 2006, the Executive Committee of
the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD) registered its concern about
worrisome developments in Somalia, particularly the attempt by the minority
TPLF/EPRDF regime in Ethiopia to exploit the sad situation in Somalia to
deflect attention from the deteriorating situation in Ethiopia itself, to
salvage and recover its sagging popularity at home and to garner the support of
the West, particularly that of the United States, by jumping on the bandwagon
of the war on terror.
Today we have learned to our deep dismay that the US government is submitting a draft resolution
to the UN Security Council asking for the repeal of the arms embargo on Somalia. We are
afraid that this would bestow legal cover on Meles Zenawi’s ill-conceived
adventures in Somalia.
AFD full-heartedly concurs with ICG’s dire
assessment that this action risks igniting a regional war.
At a highly volatile historical juncture when relations
between the world’s major religions are increasingly getting sour throughout
the world, at a time when there is a widespread sentiment and perception in the
Muslim world that the Western World is becoming increasingly Islamophobic,
Ethiopia’s tyrant is about to plunge the already volatile Horn of Africa region
into total chaos by militarily interfering in
Somalia and thereby aborting the Khartoum process of dialogue that has the best
chance of restoring stability. The international community should not pour fuel
on an already complicated situation in Somalia by giving the green light to the Ethiopian dictator to take a poor
country into a costly war with its neighbor igniting a larger and devastating
regional conflict.
When the situation in Iraq
is getting complicated and thus requiring a rethinking of strategy, it is
counterproductive for the United States
to pursue the same policy in Somalia,
a policy rejected by the US
electorate in a recent election. The attempt by the US
administration to provide legal cover for its proxy in the Horn to invade Somalia will
certainly become a catalyst for starting a war that has all the hallmarks and
ingredients to engulf the entire region and beyond. We are also concerned to
notice that a pattern of disinformation and deliberate misinformation by those
with an ax to grind in a manner reminiscent of news coverage preceding the
Iraqi war is now distorting the actual situation on the ground in our troubled
region.
The Alliance calls on the United States to reconsider this resolution and
rather concentrate efforts on encouraging the parties in Somalia to come
to the negotiation table to resolve their differences without external
interference. We also call on the
international community to rather press the regime in Ethiopia to
heed the call for an all-inclusive dialogue to resolve rising internal tensions
rather than embarking on another costly adventure in a neighboring country.
While advising the parties in Somalia to seek mutual
accommodation, exercise moderation and compromise rather than fanning
irredentist rhetoric, we urge the EPRDF and its benefactors to desist from
plunging the region into chaos and planting the venomous seeds of religious
strife.
Alliance
for Freedom and Democracy
