Saturday September 18th, 2004 14:55
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Sep 18, 2004 -- Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin has denied that his government is undermining the Somali peace process, amid threatening to arrest two Somalis warlord.
Mr Mesfin told Al-Jazeera television network that allegations against Ethiopia concerning Somalia were baseless.
He said that there were many Somalis living in Ethiopia and that if his government tried to undermine the Somali peace process, things would also take a turn for the worse, and that this would have security implications for his own country.
According to the Mogadishu based Radio Shabeelle, The Ethiopian government has threatened to arrest Somali warlords Muhammad Said Hirsi Morgan and Barre Hirale, involved in fierce fighting near the port town of Kismayo, in southern Somalia.
Ethiopia's envoy to the Somali peace talks in Nairobi, Abdulaziz Ahmed Aden, speaking to Shabeelle radio, condemned the two warlords - Gen Morgan and Col Hirale - and demanded that they immediately return to Nairobi to rejoin the peace talks.
He added that it was necessary for Somalis to recognize those who are against the peace process. Ambassador Aden said that Ethiopia had recognized that the two warlords are an obstacle to the peace process and threatened that they would be arrested if found in Ethiopian territory.
The Ethiopian official warned the two men to stop fighting immediately.
The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) asked these two warlords to come back soon. One of them already is an MP and the other one, Gen Morgan, was among the faction leaders attending the talks. If they fail to rejoin the peace talks within days, they will face sanctions.
Meanwhile, IGAD foreign ministers have expressed their support for the newly elected [Somali] Speaker of parliament, asking all Somali MPs to cooperate with the new Speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.
Material from BBC Monitoring Service
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