TPLF Generals suggest to withdraw Ethiopian troops from Somalia

Report by The Indian Ocean Newsletter:

Ethiopia’s military preparations

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has just admitted to Parliament in Addis Ababa that his government had increased the military spending budget by 16.7%, to reach $54 million, in preparation for a resumption of war with Eritrea.According to information obtained by The Indian Ocean Newsletter, Ethiopian military preparations include the construction of an airport with a two-kilometre runway at Adi Daro in the Tigray Regional State (in the north of the country).

This work has been directly supervised by the general chief of staff of the armed forces, General Samora Yunis. Furthermore, three large depots for munitions and military material have been discreetly installed at Wukro, Tembien and Shire. When General Abebaw Tadesse inquired of Samora Yunis as to why the ministry of defence had not been given prior information about the construction of these depots, Yunis sent him packing.

Stay or not to stay in Somalia

When he speaks in public on the subject, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denies that his
country’s troops are having a hard time bringing the Islamic rebels in Somalia to heel. He even
accuses United Nations agencies of not having been “positive” enough on the role played by the
Ethiopian forces there. However, the internal discussions within the Ethiopian military executive are
far less optimistic.

On 11 December 2007, from 11 in the morning until well after nightfall, Meles Zenawi held a meeting
with his generals behind closed doors to evaluate the situation in Somalia. Those present included
the army chief of staff Samora Yunis. According to information obtained by The Indian Ocean
Newsletter, several participants in this conclave reached the conclusion that the Ethiopian army is
faltering through the poor quality of its intelligence sources on the situation in Somalia. The morale of
Ethiopian troops on the ground is at a low ebb in the face of repeated attacks by insurgents and the
Somalian Transitional Federal Government’s inability to cope.

A few generals went as far as to suggest withdrawing the Ethiopian troops, at least from certain
neighbourhoods in Mogadishu. One of the participants even said that in the event of a full retreat,
the Ethiopian servicemen should be disarmed, in order to avert a possible mutiny. But the majority of
the generals present in the meeting rejected this proposal. They pointed out that disarming an elite
force would have a detrimental effect on the morale of the rest of the army and so cause even more
problems. In the end, nothing was decided and no date set for a further meeting on this subject.

Source: Indian Ocean Newsletter

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