Ethiopia plotting to attack

Ogaden on line
Staff@ogaden.com
Nov 03, 2006

An in depth discussion some of our reporters have had with knowledgeable sources both within the East African intelligence community as well as the horn of Africa political pundits revealed that Ethiopian intelligence agents are poised to strike targets within Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.

A source close to the Ethiopian ruling clique who requested anonymity indicated that attack plans are in advanced stage. This unnamed source claimed that the first phase of the plan advocates world media blitz by the Ethiopian rulers to dehumanize the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). The objective he adds is to portray the UIC as a 'threat' to Ethiopia, neighboring countries and to the world community at large. The source claims the fact that the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr. Meles Zenawi, has given plethora of interviews to the world press about the 'threat' posed by the UIC is a testament to the implementation of the plan in question.

The anonymous source says that the next phase begins if and when the media blitz succeeds in creating a negative image of the UIC in the minds of both the regional governments such as Kenya, which was thinking of normalizing relations with UIC, and America, which is at the forefront on the war on terror.

According to this source phase two of the plan instructs Ethiopian intelligence agents and Somali mules in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia especially at the head quarters of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), to bomb 'prominent' targets in these countries so the world community will blame extremists within the UIC.
A high-ranking official at the Ethiopian prime minister's office, who swore our reporter in Addis Ababa to an absolute secrecy, confirmed the outlines of the attack plan as claimed by the anonymous source.

The high-ranking official said that the heads of the Ethiopian military objected to the implementation of this plan, as they were apprehensive of it backfiring. However he adds that the head of the Ethiopian intelligence as well as the prime minister insisted that Ethiopia has at last a chance to get carte blanche from the Americans to reshape the Somali landscape while the UIC is still the prominent force in Somalia.

These anonymous sources who were interviewed by our reporters all claim that once phase two is implemented, the Ethiopian government is expected to take a leading role in exposing who actually carried out the attacks. The same sources say that the Somali mules are to be exposed by their Ethiopian intelligence masters. The idea they claim is to show the UIC link to these attacks if and when they happen.

They also add that Somali refugees in Addis Ababa are to be rounded up and some, especially those from the Hawiye clan, tortured to claim that they were behind any attacks that take place in Addis Ababa. The refugees are to be couched they say to claim that they were members of the UIC and were instructed to attack Ethiopian targets by the Supreme leader of the UIC Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on the US terror watch list.

When asked why would Ethiopian officials want to engage in such a risk business of possibly being exposed while also maiming and killing its own citizens and those of Somalia and Kenya?

All sources agreed that the current Ethiopian leadership appear convinced that this is the only way to gain both military funding as well as moral support to confront the UIC in Somalia in the name of fighting 'terror'.

These sources all agree that the current leadership inherently believes that this is the only way to convince the world community to allow them to get involved in Somalia militarily. They say that the failure by the Ethiopian trained and American intelligence funded warlords to defeat the UIC has created doubts whether any Somali allied with Ethiopia will be able to restore Ethiopian influence over the Somali nation.

When asked whether Ethiopian intelligence with the blessing of the current leadership have implemented such a plan before? The sources all nodded yes in agreement. The high-ranking official from the prime minister's office pointed to the mysterious bombings in Jig Jiga in late spring and early summer this year. Late last spring and early summer was a time when the Ethiopian leadership and its military felt demoralized having failed to succeed in their stated and widely publicized military campaign to uproot Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) fighters from Ogaden.

Instead of uprooting ONLF from Ogaden, ONLF in fact succeeded to cause heavy military casualties. ONLF also succeeded in killing almost all the high ranking Ethiopian military officials, including general Mulugeta – a close relative of Mr. Zenawi, in the Ogaden region through a successful strike it carried out against a helicopter transporting them to an official meeting in the town of Gebo Gebo.

These anonymous sources claim that the Jig Jiga bombings were carried out to drawn out any possible world press reporting of this great military loss. It was also meant to make Ethiopia look like a victim of 'terror' albeit one it has created with its own hidden hands. Furthermore it was meant to distract Ethiopian public attention away from the government's failure to achieve its stated objective in Ogaden.


As if he wanted to draw our reporter's attention, one of the anonymous sources sarcastically asked them about the bombings at the TFG parliament headquarters in Baidoba. Without directly putting the blame on Ethiopia but giving a hint of who might, this source discussed the political events on the ground at the time.

He said that at the time of this tragedy, the president of the TFG was reluctant to endorse the arrival of more Ethiopian troops in Baidoba. Furthermore this source claimed that the TFG and the UIC were actually narrowing their differences, which alarmed the Ethiopian leadership.