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Ethiopia plotting to
attack |
Ogaden Online Special report
Staff@ogaden.com
Nov 03, 2006
An in depth discussion some of our reporters
have had with knowledgeable sources both
within the East African intelligence
community as well as the horn of Africa
political pundits revealed that Ethiopian
intelligence agents are poised to strike
targets within Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.
A source close to the Ethiopian ruling
clique who requested anonymity indicated
that attack plans are in advanced stage.
This unnamed source claimed that the first
phase of the plan advocates world media
blitz by the Ethiopian rulers to dehumanize
the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).
The objective he adds is to portray the UIC
as a ‘threat’ to Ethiopia, neighboring
countries and to the world community at
large. The source claims the fact that the
Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr. Meles Zenawi,
has given plethora of interviews to the
world press about the ‘threat’ posed by the
UIC is a testament to the implementation of
the plan in question.
The anonymous source says that the next
phase begins if and when the media blitz
succeeds in creating a negative image of the
UIC in the minds of both the regional
governments such as Kenya, which was
thinking of normalizing relations with UIC,
and America, which is at the forefront on
the war on terror.
According to this source phase two of the
plan instructs Ethiopian intelligence agents
and Somali mules in Kenya, Ethiopia, and
Somalia especially at the head quarters of
the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG),
to bomb ‘prominent’ targets in these
countries so the world community will blame
extremists within the UIC.
A high-ranking official at the Ethiopian
prime minister’s office, who swore our
reporter in Addis Ababa to an absolute
secrecy, confirmed the outlines of the
attack plan as claimed by the anonymous
source.
The high-ranking official said that the
heads of the Ethiopian military objected to
the implementation of this plan, as they
were apprehensive of it backfiring. However
he adds that the head of the Ethiopian
intelligence as well as the prime minister
insisted that Ethiopia has at last a chance
to get carte blanche from the Americans to
reshape the Somali landscape while the UIC
is still the prominent force in Somalia.
These anonymous sources who were interviewed
by our reporters all claim that once phase
two is implemented, the Ethiopian government
is expected to take a leading role in
exposing who actually carried out the
attacks.
The same sources say that the Somali mules
are to be exposed by their Ethiopian
intelligence masters. The idea they claim is
to show the UIC link to these attacks if and
when they happen.
They also add that Somali refugees in Addis
Ababa are to be rounded up and some,
especially those from the Hawiye clan,
tortured to claim that they were behind any
attacks that take place in Addis Ababa.
The refugees are to be couched they say to
claim that they were members of the UIC and
were instructed to attack Ethiopian targets
by the Supreme leader of the UIC Sheikh
Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on the US terror
watch list.
When asked why would Ethiopian officials
want to engage in such a risk business of
possibly being exposed while also maiming
and killing its own citizens and those of
Somalia and Kenya?
All sources agreed that the current
Ethiopian leadership appear convinced that
this is the only way to gain both military
funding as well as moral support to confront
the UIC in Somalia in the name of fighting
‘terror’.
These sources all agree that the current
leadership inherently believes that this is
the only way to convince the world community
to allow them to get involved in Somalia
militarily.
They say that the failure by the Ethiopian
trained and American intelligence funded
warlords to defeat the UIC has created
doubts whether any Somali allied with
Ethiopia will be able to restore Ethiopian
influence over the Somali nation.
When asked whether Ethiopian intelligence
with the blessing of the current leadership
have implemented such a plan before? The
sources all nodded yes in agreement. The
high-ranking official from the prime
minister’s office pointed to the mysterious
bombings in Jig Jiga in late spring and
early summer this year.
Late last spring and early summer was a time
when the Ethiopian leadership and its
military felt demoralized having failed to
succeed in their stated and widely
publicized military campaign to uproot
Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)
fighters from Ogaden.
Instead of uprooting ONLF from Ogaden, ONLF
in fact succeeded to cause heavy military
casualties. ONLF also succeeded in killing
almost all the high ranking Ethiopian
military officials, including general
Mulugeta – a close relative of Mr. Zenawi,
in the Ogaden region through a successful
strike it carried out against a helicopter
transporting them to an official meeting in
the town of Gebo Gebo.
These anonymous sources claim that the Jig
Jiga bombings were carried out to drawn out
any possible world press reporting of this
great military loss. It was also meant to
make Ethiopia look like a victim of ‘terror’
albeit one it has created with its own
hidden hands.
Furthermore it was meant to distract
Ethiopian public attention away from the
government’s failure to achieve its stated
objective in Ogaden.
As if he wanted to draw our reporter’s
attention, one of the anonymous sources
sarcastically asked them about the bombings
at the TFG parliament headquarters in
Baidoba. Without directly putting the blame
on Ethiopia but giving a hint of who might,
this source discussed the political events
on the ground at the time.
He said that at the time of this tragedy,
the president of the TFG was reluctant to
endorse the arrival of more Ethiopian troops
in Baidoba. Furthermore this source claimed
that the TFG and the UIC were actually
narrowing their differences, which alarmed
the Ethiopian leadership.
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