SOMALIA: Islamist leaders yesterday called for Somalis to prepare for war, as residents said Ethiopian troops were moving closer to Mogadishu, seat of the Muslim militia now holding much of the Horn of Africa nation.
"Somalia is under attack and Somalis must defend their country," senior Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said. "Anybody who sides with Ethiopia will be considered a traitor . . . The Islamic courts will lead the people to victory."
The call came as thousands took to the streets of Mogadishu to support their new Muslim rulers and protest against a reported incursion by Ethiopian troops into Somalia to protect the interim government from Islamist forces.
In a procession of pickup trucks, cars and motorcycles, residents toured the battle-scarred city, which the Islamists took from US-backed warlords last month.
The rapid rise of the Islamists, who established their base through sharia courts, has threatened the authority, and indeed existence, of president Abdullahi Yusuf's government, formed in 2004 to steer the nation of 10 million from anarchy to peace. Western nations back Yusuf's government in principle, but recognise it has little political or military power.
Outside the capital, residents said Ethiopian soldiers were moving beyond the fragile Somali interim government's provincial base in Baidoa to the towns of Buur Hakaba and Baledogle.
Addis Ababa denied the claim. The Somali government, which has little authority beyond Baidoa, said its militia wore uniforms given by Ethiopia.
Traditionally Christian Ethiopia supports the interim government and views the Islamists as "terrorists". It has not hesitated to send troops in to attack radical Islamic militia in the past.
US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Jendayi Frazer cautioned Addis Ababa against becoming embroiled in Somalia, although she could not confirm reports that Ethiopian troops had entered the country.
An Ethiopian government spokesman said Addis Ababa had accepted a request from Somalia's government to come to its aid in case of an attack on Baidoa, but Ethiopia had not sent troops across the border.