Analysis -- Ethiopia dragged reluctantly back into Somalia

Nazret ^ | Friday, November 25, 2011 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Ethiopia is being sucked back into Somalia to open another front against Islamist rebels battling Kenyan forces but even a military victory is unlikely to end two decades of anarchy unless the country's feuding politicians and clans want peace.

A small Ethiopian contingent rolled across the border on November 19 and 20, although Addis Ababa has publicly denied its troops are there. They have revived bases used during its ill-fated 2006-2009 campaign to rid the anarchic country of hardline Islamist rebels.

Regional leaders were meeting in the Ethiopian capital on Friday to discuss ways of supporting Kenya's campaign. Mogadishu has said it would welcome an Ethiopian force if there was an official mandate.

Kenya has leaned heavily on Ethiopia to send a much larger force to join the assault against the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels.

But Ethiopian troops are unlikely to stray far this time, aware that their last intervention was a rallying call for rebels, who portrayed Ethiopia as Christian invaders in a Muslim country.

Kenya too has stressed it will leave Somalia once it has dismantled al Shabaab's network and seized strongholds that provide the insurgents a financial lifeline, potentially leaving a void for former warlords to step into.

[SunkenCiv]

Reuters

[SunkenCiv]

Regional Summit Urges Ethiopia to Send Troops to Somalia
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Regional-Summit-Urges-Ethiopia-to-Send-Troops-to-Somalia-134496173.html

Ethiopia urged to back war against Shabaab
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/11/ethiopia-urged-to-back-war-against-shabaab/

[SunkenCiv]

A map of the Sahel region showing where Al Qaeda operates (AFP/Graphic)