Ethiopia NEVER Left Somalia

It Was A Deceptive Charade

By Sophia Tesfamariam
May 22, 2009
Courtesy Of The American Chronicle

The BBC and other media are reporting the "return of Ethiopian troops to Somalia". How can they "return" when they never left? My sources, who served as advisors to Abdulahi Yusuf, leader of the Eldoret formed Transitional National Government of Somalia (TNG), tell me that Meles Zenawi´s forces never left Somalia. They may have left Mogadishu but they certainly did not leave Somalia. The Ethiopian regime has lied abut its presence in Somalia from day one. After denying its presence in Somalia in 2006, it was forced to admit that it had forces all over Somalia. Then it came up with a convenient lie and claimed that it was there at the invitation of Abdulahi Yusuf´s TNG. The media reported about the presence of 8000 Ethiopian troops. That too was a lie. There were over 25,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia.

It was on Christmas Eve 24 December 2006 that the US-backed minority regime in Ethiopia invaded Somalia to oust the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) which was expanding its influence throughout Somalia. Sheikh Sharif, who now heads the TNG, was "hunted down" by Meles Zenawi´s forces. Vicki Huddleston and Jendayi E. Frazier called the UIC a threat to Ethiopia´s security and accused them of harboring Al Qaeda operatives, including those who bombed the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and for "introducing strict Islamic laws" and "banning khat". The invasion brought chaos and destruction to Somalia. Over a million people were displaced, tens of thousands massacred in cold blood and Somali´s infrastructures destroyed. The UN led international community created another TNG in Djibouti, forced the resignation of Abdulahi Yusuf, and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was chosen as the new President of Somalia.

Just as the Bush Administration was leaving Washington, in January 2009, after two years of pillage and destruction, Meles Zenawi claiming "victory", announced that his marauding forces would leave Somalia. Only the gullible believed that unlikely story. If the Ethiopian troops were to leave Somalia, who then was going to "prop up" the new TNG formed in Djibouti? After all, it was not chosen by the people of Somalia. The west may have labeled the new TNG "moderate", but that is not going to bring it legitimacy in the eyes of the Somali people. The people of Somalia must be given the chance to choose their own leaders and set the criteria for themselves.

The people of Somalia had accepted Sheikh Sharif and the UIC in 2006 in spite of the labels placed on them by Jendayi Frazier and Meles Zenawi. They had accepted Sheikh Sharif Ahmed then because he was borne out of their struggle against the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Anti Terrorism-CIA sponsored warlords who had prevented the Eldoret formed TNG from establishing itself in Somalia, forcing it to remain in Kenya for over two years. Jendayi Frazer and Meles Zenawi planned and carried out the ouster of the UIC and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from Somalia in order to establish the puppet regime of Abdulahi Yusuf and Ali Mohammed Ghedi, a regime that would be amenable to Meles Zenawi and the West.

Sheikh Sharif was forced into exile and so were his comrades. He took refuge in Eritrea where the Alliance for the Re-liberation and Reconstitution of Somalia (ARS) was formed by about 450 Somalis representing a cross section of the Somali people. They called for the unconditional removal of Ethiopian and other foreign forces from Somalia. Jendai Frazer and Meles Zenawi blacklisted Eritrea for not supporting the puppet TNG led by Abdulahi Yusuf and Ali Mohammed Ghedi. The UN Security Council decided that the TNG led by Abdulahi Yusuf was the only legitimate government of Somalia.

Today, the UN is once again telling us that the only legitimate government of Somalia is the one led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the same person that was "hunted down" by Meles Zenawi´s forces in 2006 and 2007. The US led international community is once again insisting that all nations accept the newly formed TNG. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was brought to Mogadishu, but the violence and destructions continue. Today, we hear that Ethiopia is once again in Somalia. I contend that they never left. How many forces did the Djibouti TNG have when it came to Mogadishu? Who took over when the Ehtiopians supposedly left in January? Did the African Union forces have the capacity to take over?

How many troops were trained by Ethiopia and UNDP? Did they remain to support the new TNG or did they leave with Abdulahi Yusuf?

I doubt that even the UN has answers to these questions. With all the lies being reported and repeated, it can be very hard to discern the facts about Somalia, but you do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out this hoax.

Let us take a look at the UN Monitoring Group´s Report of December 2008 to get a better understanding of the forces in Somalia. This is what the Report says about the TNG forces trained by Ethiopia:

"…The Transitional Federal Government possesses a security establishment of fewer than 20,000 personnel, including military, police and intelligence services. Many of these, however, are believed to be "phantoms", whose pay — when disbursed — is diverted by senior commanders. Payment is irregular. Over the course of the past six months, effective force levels have been further depleted by attrition and defection…"

"…The Government of Ethiopia informed the Monitoring Group in October 2008 that it had trained 17,000 Somali security personnel, but did not specify how many were police and how many military. Of that total, Ethiopia believes less than 3,000 may still be effective, suggesting an attrition rate of over 80 per cent. Since most soldiers who desert or defect take their weapons and uniforms with them, this represents some 14,000 new weapons entering Somali territory…"

"…In 2008, Ethiopia began to withdraw its forces from Somalia and gradually transfer authority to the Transitional Federal Government. During the course of this process, as many as 14,000 Ethiopian-trained troops are believed to have deserted or defected, usually with their uniforms and weapons…"

"…On a smaller scale, UNDP reported in January 2008 that 225 police officers whom it had trained could not be traced, and estimated that 40 per cent of trainees had deserted by November 2008. According to media reports and a senior Transitional Federal Government source, at least several hundred such trainees have joined armed opposition groups, often taking their arms, uniforms and vehicles with them…"
Here are some news reports about the defection of TNG forces:

"…A group of soldiers formerly loyal to the allied governments of Somalia and Ethiopia have reportedly switched sides and "surrendered" over to militants leading the insurgency…Abdirahim Isse Addow, a spokesman for the Islamic Courts movement, said seven Somali soldiers and one Ethiopian military officer said the Islamists would welcome the defecting soldiers…A soldier who spoke for the defecting Somali troops said they were all trained in Ethiopia and deployed at the ex-pasta factory, in north Mogadishu…" (Garowe online 7 September 2008)

"…During this week's fighting, some government troops have defected to the insurgents, although the government denies it. The local television station HornAfrik has run video of Islamist fighters displaying 17 military vehicles with government plates they said were brought over by defecting soldiers…" (Associated Press 15 May 2009)

According to my sources, the minority regime in Ethiopia, master of gimmicks and deceptions, is at it again. In an elaborate scheme designed to hoodwink the international community and fleece donors of more funds, it seems the shameless regime in Ethiopia is passing off "Ethiopian Somalis" as Somalis. It is the same gimmick it has used to present Tigrayans as Eritreans. Farfetched you say? Well, considering the deceptive nature of the regime and its past activities…

In December 2008, the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia reported the following:

"…At the end of February 2008, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a project document and funding request to the British Government. The project envisaged a six-month training course for 10,000 Somali police, but did not address their subsequent integration into the Somali police force. The description of the training curriculum is vague…Subsequent requests by donors and UNDP to inspect the training course on location were rejected by the Ethiopian Government. They were, however, invited to attend the graduation ceremony that took place on 5 July 2008…The Ethiopian Government provided all trainees with uniforms and individual weapons in preparation for their deployment to Somalia. The military and police contingents traveled in joint convoys from the Ethiopian border to Baidoa. The Ethiopian-trained military contingent remained under Ethiopian Command…"

Why was the TPLF regime being so secretive about its training program if it was on the up and up? According to my sources, all the remaining TNG forces and the "Somali Ethiopians" are under the command of a certain Ethiopia General "Gere". If they are Somalis, why are they not under TNG control? If that is not bad enough, turns out, the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) is also under Ethiopian command. It should be recalled that Meles Zenawi heads the African Union´s Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC) which created AMISOM in 2007. Leave it to the bigoted regime to come up with such a deceptive charade.

There is also news about the Sheikh Sharif TNG "downplaying" Ethiopia´s presence in Somalia. That comes as no surprise. When the minority regime´s forces were hunting him down in 2006 and when he took refuge in Eritrea, he was singing a different tune. The UIC was calling for the unconditional removal of Ethiopian forces. Today, he imagines that with the blessing of the UN and AU, he is now part of the "bloc". In a shameful and reckless display of political immaturity, pandering to Meles Zenawi, he has also taken to denouncing Gimbot 7 (Ethiopian opposition), he knows nothing about. He ought to worry about the people of Somalia´s opposition to his illegitimate TNG, then worry about Gimbot 7.

Instead of engaging in senseless propaganda on behalf of Meles Zenawi and the "bloc", Sheikh Sharif Ahmed ought to be calling for the unconditional removal of all Ethiopia, Burundi and Ugandan troops from Somalia, for that is what the Somali people want. He should also be calling on the international community to stop exploiting the instability in Somalia and stop the illegal fishing off the coast of Somalia; stop the dumping of nuclear and other waste etc. The UN special envoy to Somalia ought to be defending the rights of the Somali people. Johann Hari in an Independent article posted on the 5 January 2009 wrote:

"...Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it." Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."…At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving…"

The sad thing about this whole sordid criminal, almost mafia-like state of affairs in Somalia is the silence and the acquiescence of the US led international community and the duplicity of the UN Envoy as Somalia disintegrates further. Instead of pointing their blood soaked fingers at Eritrea, they ought to take a good look at the destruction and mayhem they have caused in Somalia as they advance their own interests at the expense (lives) of the Somali people.

It was on 24 May 2007 that I saw Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and his delegation at the Asmara stadium, sitting in a place reserved for guests who come to participate in the Independence Day celebrations. The Government and people of Eritrea treated him with dignity and respect and as one of Eritrea´s friends. Today, as Eritrea celebrates the 18th Independence Anniversary, he finds himself neither a friend of Eritrea, nor wanted or accepted by the Somali people he purports to lead. Forgetting the magnanimity of the Government and people of Eritrea, and has joined in the anti-Eritrea chorus led by the very regimes that hunted him down in 2006. Today, while other invited guests and dignitaries experience the hospitality and friendship of the Eritrean people, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and the "bloc" led by Meles Zenawi will watch from a distance as Eritrea and her people celebrate their hard earned independence.