Somali Islamists vow holy war on Ethiopian troops

SOMALIA: Somalia's Islamists vowed a "holy war" against Ethiopian troops crossing into the Horn of Africa nation, while Addis Ababa threatened to crush any attack on the interim government it supports.

The aggressive rhetoric, combined with this week's military moves on both sides, have raised fears of a new war in Somalia, deprived of central rule since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.

Ethiopian soldiers in military trucks drove into the provincial town of Baidoa on Thursday, witnesses said, a day after Islamist militia advanced within 35 kms (22 miles) of the government's temporary provincial base.

"The risk of full-scale war increases by the day," said John Prendergast, of the International Crisis Group think-tank.

Islamists took the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords last month and are threatening the authority of a transitional administration formed in 2004 to steer the nation from anarchy to peace.

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a senior Islamist in charge of defence, said some 20 military vehicles from Ethiopia had crossed into Somalia at Dollow on Wednesday.

"God willing, we will remove the Ethiopians in our country and wage a jihadi war against them," he told reporters.

"Some Ethiopian troops arrived during the day," said Baidoa taxi driver Hassan Mohamed. "On my way out of town I saw some military vehicles and I hear there are more in Luuq near the border."

Addis Ababa termed the jihad call "foolish and cheap propaganda" aimed at winning support from Muslim states.

"The Islamists' agenda is to topple the legally constituted Federal Transitional Government of Somalia and destabilise Ethiopia," added Information Ministry spokesman Zemedhun Tekle.

Ethiopia denied incursions into Somalia but threatened to crush any Islamist bid to take Baidoa or cross the border - comments that prompted a call for restraint from Washington.

Mogadishu, Friday, Reuters