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| Africa Horn |
| Ethiopia PM Charges 'Smear Campaign' Against Troops in Somalia |
| 2008-05-22 |
| Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has accused international media and human rights groups of conducting a smear campaign against Ethiopian troops in Somalia. Speaking to parliament, Mr. Meles vowed that the troops would remain as long as needed to support the transitional government in Mogadishu. VOA's Peter Heinlein listened to the prime minister's remarks, and reports they were notable as much for what was not said as for what was. Prime Minister Meles confined his remarks to six scripted questions submitted by lawmakers. An attempt by one opposition politician to raise another point was overruled. The prime minister gave a detailed defense of the behavior of Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's transitional government. Several human rights groups have accused the soldiers of numerous atrocities during their nearly 18 months in Somalia, including an attack on a Mogadishu mosque last month that left at least 10 people dead. In an e-mail to reporters Wednesday, a group called the Ogaden Human Rights Committee also charged that civilians from Ethiopia's Somali region, known as the Ogaden, are being forcibly repatriated, after fleeing to Somalia to escape a harsh Ethiopian counterinsurgency campaign. Mr. Meles dismissed those reports as part of a smear campaign aimed at forcing the troops to leave Somalia. He vowed to keep them there as long as necessary. "The international media and so-called human rights organizations do say all sorts of things about our military and ourselves with a tremendous smear campaign," he said. "They do tarnish our reputation, but we will not be able to get rid of these tarnishings and smears because we leave Somalia. We should know those smears are not happening because those organizations don't know the truth, but it's because they choose to do so." |
| Posted by:Fred |