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By Guled Mohamed
27 May, 2007
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Ethiopia opened an embassy in the chaotic Somali capital next to the presidential palace on Sunday, the latest sign of the Horn of Africa military power's close ties with a Somali government it wants to sustain.
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, a key player in Addis Ababa's efforts to bolster the government of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, opened the embassy on the third day of his latest visit to Mogadishu.
Seyoum and Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, appointed from obscurity at Addis Ababa's behest in late 2004, jointly raised Ethiopia's green, yellow and red flag at the opening ceremony.
"Our peace and stability have been jeopardised by a handful of extremists who profess to be holy men ... which contradicts the tenets of Islam as peaceful, tolerant and accommodating," Seyoum said.
Yusuf was also present as Ethiopian sharpshooters kept watch from nearby rooftops.
Ethiopia's army helped Yusuf's soldiers oust a militant Islamist group from southern Somalia in a quick war over the New Year, clearing the way for the government to return to a capital that had lain beyond its grasp since its formation in 2004.
Both Addis Ababa and Washington say Islamist leaders have ties to al Qaeda, an assessment independent security experts share.
"We hope other neighbors and countries will do the same and open their embassies in Somalia," Gedi said. "The people and government of Ethiopia made the highest sacrifice by their blood to ensure peace in Somalia."
It is not the first embassy to begin functioning since the government took over the city in the last days of December; Libya and Sudan already had embassies.
GUERRILLA ATTACKS
A handful of Islamist fighters have carried out guerrilla attacks on the
government and Ethiopian soldiers, and have increasingly adopted
Iraq-style attacks like roadside bombs and assassinations in what they say
is a holy war, or jihad.
The latest came overnight, when insurgents set off a roadside bomb near a former pasta factory in an attempt to hit Ethiopian troops patrolling nearby. It was not clear if anyone was killed or wounded.
A U.N. report says Ethiopian archrival Eritrea is backing the Islamists with weapons, training and money funneled from other nations, a charge Asmara denies.
The hit-and-run attacks have increased since the government and Ethiopia carried out two amour and artillery offensives in March and April to wipe out Islamist strongholds.
The ensuing battles killed at least 1,300 people and leveled neighborhoods in the worst fighting in the capital since 1991 -- the year warlords plunged Somalia into anarchy by ousting dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Yusuf's administration is the 14th attempt at re-establishing national government since then.
Ethiopia's backing of the government has rejuvenated ancient grudges among Somalis, who are fiercely nationalist and for centuries have viewed their larger Horn of Africa neighbor as a Christian imperialist power.