Ethiopia-Eritrea rivalry should not dictate Somalia politics
17 May 17, 2009 - 3:48:41 PM
SUNDAY EDITORIAL | The international community’s efforts to stabilize Somalia will not succeed as long as the world fails to take into account regional political and security dimensions.
Horn of Africa rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea have long been accused of influencing the politics in war-time Somalia since the eruption of an enduring civil war in 1991. The Ethiopian army's two-year military occupation of regions in south-central Somalia, especially the national capital Mogadishu, incited an Islamist insurgency that threatens to derail any future government aiming to stabilize the war-torn Horn of Africa country. Conversely, the Eritrean government has boldly offered military and political support to anti-government Islamist rebels in Somalia with the goal of undermining the international community's efforts to restore national order in Mogadishu.
Somalia's weakness as a functioning and strong nation-state has given Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Eritrean President Isaias Aferwerki a free-hand in influencing, co-opting and dictating to Somali political factions who are fighting for political and military supremacy in a land that has known instability for nearly 20 years. Ironic that, in the 1980s when both Zenawi and Aferwerki were small-time rebel leaders, Somalia was home-base from where the rebels waged their war to overthrow then-Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Accusations that Eritrea has shipped weapons to rebel groups like Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam in Somalia is another worrying indication that the Horn of Africa rivals continue to use Somalia in their destructive proxy war to outmaneuver each other. Neither Addis Ababa nor Asmara care for the suffering masses in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia, but each country is concerned with winning an endless tug-of-war.
The international community's efforts to stabilize Somalia will not succeed as long as the world fails to take into account regional political and security dimensions. A comprehensive solution to the Ethiopia-Eritrea border conflict that began in 1998 must be a prerequisite to helping Somalia recover from the war years. The international community should engage in direct efforts to resolve the long-standing military dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea with the strategic goal of establishing lasting peace in the Horn of Africa region.
Ultimately, Somalia's problem is a problem among Somali brothers and its solution rests with the Somali people. The international community must use political and financial means – i.e. sanctions – to threaten any country that continues to fuel the flames of war in Somalia. Without immediate and direct action, however, the Somali civil war and all its offshoots, including refugee exodus, terrorism and piracy, will continue to grow and to destabilize the Horn of Africa region.
Garowe Online Editorial, editorial@garoweonline.com
