Ethiopia seeking to use US anti-terror war to divide up Somalia - commentary.

A Somali commentary says Ethiopia is seeking to exploit the current US anti-terror campaign to achieve its alleged long-term goal of dividing up Somalia into small warring "bantustans" and get access to the sea. The following is an excerpt from the commentary in English by Dr Abdirahman Abbas (Ayaamaha editorial board member) entitled "Partitioning Somalia: Has the USA given the green light? by Somali newspaper Ayaamaha web site on 5 February; all subheadings as published:

The United States led humanitarian military intervention in Somalia in 1992 was unprecedented and has saved hundreds of thousands of lives...

Seven years after the Americans left Somalia, the Republic of Djibouti invited more than 3,000 Somalis from all walks of life, such as the civil society organizations, clan elders, religious and community leaders, representatives from the diaspora, politicians and other organized groups to attend a national reconciliation conference in Arta, Djibouti. After more than six months of deliberations, negotiations, hard bargaining and compromises, a final settlement was reached to appoint a Transitional parliament, which subsequently elected a president, who in turn named a prime minister. Soon, a 25-member cabinet was formed and the government started to address one of the biggest …