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Khan-Ghalgha
04-24-2007, 12:51 AM
Previous thread was closed, thought an update wouldn't hurt

Somali death toll rises to 212
By Salad Duhul, Associated Press Writer
Published: 23 April 2007

Insurgents and Ethiopian troops backing Somali government forces fought gunbattles in Mogadishu yesterday, while a human rights group said at least 47 people died - some from fighting the previous day - and 71 were wounded.

Sudan Ali Ahmed, the chairman of the Elman Human Rights Organization, said six insurgents and 41 civilians died. Some of the civilians died of their injuries after being wounded during the previous day's heavy fighting, he said.

Ahmed said the figures were based on what Mogadishu residents, hospitals and human rights activists reported to his group. They did not have any casualty figures for either Ethiopian or Somali government soldiers.

"The killing of civilians like this is a crime against humanity," Ahmed told The Associated Press by telephone. "We urge the international community to send a team to investigate these crimes. They are war crimes."

The new tallies bring the death toll in five days of fighting in Mogadishu to at least 212, with more than 291 wounded, according to the human rights group.

Meanwhile, a government official warned that it planned a major offensive against the insurgents soon and wanted residents of the capital to move from insurgent strongholds.

Sunday's fighting was less intense than the previous day's, which saw battles spread across the northern and southern districts of Mogadishu, with mortars and grenades used as well as gunfights.

The southern Mogadishu neighborhood of Tawfiq was the scene of most of yesterday's fighting and involved mainly gunbattles, though mortars were fired in the early morning.

Somali government forces captured Tawfiq Hotel, which was owned by a businessman sympathetic to the insurgents, said Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle.

"People in Mogadishu should vacate their homes which are located near the strongholds of terrorists and we will crack down on insurgents and terrorists very soon," Jelle told the AP.

In a separate development that could increase tension in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea suspended its membership of a regional body that mediated the Somali conflict.

The region is already tense because of the unresolved border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia that has seen the two countries go to war in the past. In recent months, the Somalia conflict has also been seen as a proxy war between the two, with each backing rival sides.

Eritrea suspended its membership of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development because of "a number of repeated and irresponsible resolutions" the organization has passed "that undermine regional peace and security," the Eritrean Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Saturday.

"As such, the Eritrean government deemed it fit not to be party to developments that hold one accountable both legally and morally," said the statement.

It did not make any direct reference to Somalia. But in recent years, the seven-nation Intergovernmental Authority on Development has spent most of its time trying to resolve conflicts such as Somalia, rather than focus on economic development for which it was set up.

US officials have named Eritrea as a supporter the months-old insurgency in Mogadishu, something Eritrea has denied.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.

The transitional government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help, but has struggled to extend its control over the country.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...cle2474396.ece
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Zman
05-20-2007, 06:00 PM
:sl:/Peace To All

North Korea Arms Ethiopia With US Consent

By Michael R. Gordon and Mark Mazzetti
Published: April 7, 2007
IHT

Washington: Three months after the United States successfully pressed the United Nations to impose strict sanctions on North Korea because of the country's nuclear test, Bush administration officials allowed Ethiopia to complete a secret arms purchase from the North, in what appears to be a violation of the restrictions, according to senior American officials.

The United States allowed the arms delivery to go through in January in part because Ethiopia was in the midst of a military offensive against Islamic militias inside Somalia, a campaign that aided the American policy of combating religious extremists in the Horn of Africa.

American officials said that they were still encouraging Ethiopia to wean itself from its longstanding reliance on North Korea for cheap Soviet-era military equipment to supply its armed forces and that Ethiopian officials appeared receptive.

But the arms deal is an example of the compromises that result from the clash of two foreign policy absolutes: the Bush administration's commitment to fighting Islamic radicalism and its effort to starve the North Korean government of money it could use to build up its nuclear weapons program.

...It is also not the first time that the Bush administration has made an exception for allies in their dealings with North Korea.

In 2002, Spain intercepted a ship carrying Scud missiles from North Korea to Yemen. At the time, Yemen was working with the United States to hunt members of Al Qaeda operating within its borders, and after its government protested, the United States asked that the freighter be released. Yemen said at the time that it was the last shipment from an earlier missile purchase and would not be repeated.

American officials from a number of agencies described details of the Ethiopian episode on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal Bush administration deliberations.

Several officials said they first learned that Ethiopia planned to receive a delivery of military cargo from North Korea when the country's government alerted the American Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, after the adoption on Oct. 14 of the United Nations Security Council measure imposing sanctions.

"The Ethiopians came back to us and said, 'Look, we know we need to transition to different customers, but we just can't do that overnight,' " said one American official, who added that the issue had been handled properly. "They pledged to work with us at the most senior levels."

American intelligence agencies in late January reported that an Ethiopian cargo ship that was probably carrying tank parts and other military equipment had left a North Korean port.

The value of the shipment is unclear, but Ethiopia purchased $20 million worth of arms from North Korea in 2001, according to American estimates, a pattern that officials said had continued.

The United States gives Ethiopia millions of dollars of foreign aid and some nonlethal military equipment.

After a brief debate in Washington, the decision was made not to block the arms deal and to press Ethiopia not to make future purchases.


...Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, declined to comment on the specifics of the arms shipment but said the United States was "deeply committed to upholding and enforcing UN Security Council resolutions."

Repeated efforts to contact the Ethiopian Embassy were unsuccessful.

...Ethiopia has an arsenal of T-55 tanks that it acquired years ago from the Soviet Union and Eastern European nations. For years, it has turned to North Korea for tank parts and other equipment to keep its military running.

The Ethiopians bought the equipment at a bargain price; the North Koreans received some badly needed cash.

...Another American official, who is involved in Africa policy, said: "These are cash on the barrel transactions. The Ethiopians know that they can get the best deal in Pyongyang," a reference to North Korea's capital.

In late January, the Central Intelligence Agency reported that an Ethiopian-flagged vessel had left a North Korean port and that its cargo probably included "tank parts," among other military equipment.

American officials said that the ship, the Tekeze, a modern vessel bought from a company in Montenegro and named after an Ethiopian river, unloaded its cargo in Djibouti, a former French colony where the United States has based Special Operations troops and other military forces.
From there, the cargo was transported overland to Ethiopia.

The Security Council resolution's list of prohibited items included spare parts. Because the cargo was never inspected, some administration officials say the United States cannot say for certain that the shipment violated the resolution.

It is not clear if the United States ever reported the arms shipment to the Security Council.

But because the intelligence reports indicated that the cargo was likely to have included tank parts, some Pentagon officials described the shipment as an unambiguous Security Council violation.

American officials said that the Ethiopians acknowledged that the ship was en route and said they needed the military equipment to sustain their Soviet-era military.

Ethiopia has a longstanding border dispute with Eritrea, but of more concern to Washington, Ethiopia was also focused on neighboring Somalia, where Islamic forces that had taken over Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, six months earlier were attacking Baidoa, the seat of a relatively powerless transitional government that was formed with the support of the United Nations.

The timing of the shipment was extremely awkward, as the Ethiopian military was preoccupied with Somalia and also quietly cooperating with the United States.

Ethiopia began an offensive in Somalia to drive back the Islamic forces and install the transitional government in Mogadishu late last year.

The United States was providing it with detailed intelligence about the positions of the Islamic forces and positioned navy ships off Somalia's coast to capture fighters trying to escape the battlefield by sea.

On Jan. 7, American AC-130 gunships launched two strikes on terrorist targets from an airstrip inside Ethiopia, though it did not appear that the casualties included any of the few top Qaeda operatives American officials suspected were hiding in Somalia.

After some internal debate, the Bush administration decided not to make an issue of the cargo ship.

American officials insist that they are keeping up the pressure on Ethiopia. While Ethiopia has not provided an ironclad assurance that it will accept no more arms shipments from North Korea, it has told the United States that it will look for other weapons suppliers.

"There was a lot going on at that particular moment in time," said the senior American official.

"They seem to have the readiness to do the right thing."

Source:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/...PIA.php?page=1


Let's all say in unison: Hypocrisy!
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extinction
05-20-2007, 06:06 PM
I dont know why but i cant read like copied and pasted posts...
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Zman
05-20-2007, 06:09 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by hafizmo
I dont know why but i cant read like copied and pasted posts...
:sl:

The U.S. government claims that North Korea is illegally developing nuclear weapons, selling missiles and other weapons to Third World nation.

Yet, the U.S. government turns around and allows North Korea to secretly sell weapons to Ethiopia, which were used in its invasion of Somalia...
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extinction
05-20-2007, 06:11 PM
Ok..thanks for the info..
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Zman
05-20-2007, 06:15 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by hafizmo
Ok..thanks for the info..
:sl:

You are most welcome...
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wilberhum
05-20-2007, 06:25 PM
It is odd that people complain when the US acts like the world police and complain when we don't.
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Suomipoika
05-20-2007, 07:21 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by wilberhum
It is odd that people complain when the US acts like the world police and complain when we don't.
Its because you need to police who they want to, not them.
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extinction
05-20-2007, 07:28 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by wilberhum
It is odd that people complain when the US acts like the world police and complain when we don't.
I love this statment!!
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Hawa
05-20-2007, 08:02 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by wilberhum
It is odd that people complain when the US acts like the world police and complain when we don't.
Perhaps it is because policemen (especially self-appointed ones) generally have a duty of care.
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