Ethiopia Prepares To Invade Somalia, page 1

Ethiopia has been positioning troops along it's border with Somalia in recent weeks and has announced that it plans to invade the war torn country. The move is intended as a way for Ethiopia to protect the U.N. backed Somali transitional government from an imminent attack by Islamic militants. The Islamic militants in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu have allied themselves with Muslim separatists in the Oromo region of Ethiopia. Fears that the Al-Qaeda linked militants will use Somalia as a base to spread the fighting to Ethiopia are also a concern for that nation.

news.yahoo.com
NAIROBI, Kenya - Ethiopia is prepared to invade neighboring Somalia to defend its U.N.-backed government against what appeared to be an imminent attack by Islamic militiamen, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

The militiamen, who hold most of southern Somalia, deployed hundreds of fighters outside the town where the largely powerless government is based and said they planned to seize it.

"We have the responsibility to defend the border and the Somali government. We will crush them," Ethiopia's Minister of Information, Berhan Hailu, told The Associated Press.

Seizing the town of Baidoa would give the Islamic militia — which the United States has linked to al-Qaeda — the uncontested authority over most of Somalia.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

It is a real concern for the west and the U.S. in particular that Islamic militants in Somalia will take that country over and allow it to become a "safe haven" for international terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda. With the U.S. facing continued fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the building tensions with Iran and North Korea, as well as the recent violence between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah it seems unlikely that the U.S. can aid the government in Somalia. Also, the U.N. has proven itself incapable of handling tensions in this part of Africa which leaves little in the way to stop violence there. This is one more hot spot in the world set to explode and there is little attention on this pending disaster.

Related News Links:
news.yahoo.com
news.yahoo.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
somalia
Somalia: Mogadishu Is Burning
US Accused of Funding Somali Militants To Battle Islamic Coalition

[edit on 7/19/2006 by looking4truth]

[edit on 19/7/2006 by Mirthful Me]