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Somali sheik calls for holy war

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 22, 2006

BAIDOA, Somalia - Somalia's top Islamic leader called Friday for a holy war against Ethiopia to drive out troops the largely Christian nation sent to protect the internationally backed Somali government.

The radical Islamic forces control more of Somalia than the government and have made clear they consider themselves the legitimate authority in the country.

Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, in an angry radio broadcast, said Ethiopia deployed troops to the government's base in Baidoa, 150 miles northwest of Mogadishu, to bolster what he described as a puppet regime.

He said President Abdullahi Yusuf, his longtime rival, has "been a servant of Ethiopia for a long time."

"I am calling on the Somali people to wage a holy war against Ethiopians in Baidoa," said Aweys, who is accused by the U.S. government of ties to al-Qaida. "They came to protect a government which they set up to advance their interests."

"We must defend our sovereignty," he declared on Radio Shabelle.

The Islamic group organized anti-Ethiopia demonstrations Friday in the capital, Mogadishu, and militiamen shot dead two people who joined a daring counterdemonstration.

Residents of Baidoa reported seeing hundreds of Ethiopian troops, in uniform and in marked armored vehicles, enter the city Thursday and take up positions around President Yusuf's compound.

Ethiopian and Somali government officials have denied Ethiopian troops are in the country.

The neighboring countries are traditional enemies, although Somalia's president has asked Ethiopia for its support.

The United States on Thursday urged Ethiopia to exercise restraint and said the European Union, the United States, the African Union, the Arab League and others in an international contact group on Somalia will meet soon to consider the volatile situation.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed concerns about the increased tensions near Baidoa and urged dialogue, according to a U.N. statement Thursday.

[Last modified July 22, 2006, 01:17:36]