Top Somali Islamic leader orders holy war against Ethiopia

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 counter-demonstration.

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

Ethiopian and Somali government officials have denied Ethiopian troops are in the country, though witnesses from five towns have reported seeing them. The government's deputy information minister, Salad Ali Jeele, maintained Friday that people were seeing government militia wearing uniforms given to them by Ethiopia.

Reliance on Ethiopia appears to make the government beholden to the country's traditional enemy and hurts its legitimacy. Anti-Ethiopia sentiment still runs high in much of this almost entirely Muslim country, which is why the government and Ethiopia, a mostly Christian nation, may want to keep the troop deployment quiet.

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

The Ethiopians kept off the streets of Baidoa for most of Friday. Residents saw them move in trucks between their positions earlier in the day, said Salah Adow, a resident in the town.