US Defends, OIC Urges Ethiopian Pullout

The OIC warned that the military hostilities have "the potential to engulf the entire region and even beyond."(Reuters)

"This military escalation was capable of seriously undermining the progress achieved so far for the attainment of lasting peace, stability and reconciliation in the country," the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) said a statement faxed to IslamOnline.net.

Ekrneleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the world's largest grouping of Muslim countries, called upon all parties to shoulder their responsibility in stemming the bloodshed.

"He also strongly appeals to Ethiopia to immediately withdraw its military forces from Somalia," read the statement.

The 57-member OIC warned that the military hostilities have "the potential to engulf the entire region and even beyond."

The Islamic Courts of Somalia (SICS) admitted losing the strategic southern town of Jowhar to the Ethiopian troops earlier Wednesday.

Few hours later, the Ethiopians sized Balad, in the closest battle yet to the Mogadishu stronghold of the SICS.

Addis Ababa said it was halfway to crushing the SICS, heightening fears its next step would be to use air strikes and ground troops to seize the capital.

Heavy fighting began on December 20 after the expiry of an ultimatum by the SICS for Ethiopian troops to leave the country.

Ceasefire

The pan-Arab organization also pressed Wednesday for an Ethiopian pullout from neighboring Somalia.

"The Arab League calls for the withdrawal of all foreign presence from Somali territory," the 22-member body said following an emergency meeting in Cairo.

It warned that the conflict could "threaten the peace and stability of the Horn of Africa."

The Arab League also called for "an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire," urging the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities.

On Tuesday, December 26, the Security Council failed to agree on a document calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Somalia.

Several council members rejected the Qatari-circulated statement's naming of Ethiopia forces in particular.

UN envoy Francois Lonseny Fall has warned the Security Council that failure to reach a political settlement could lead to a conflict that could "have serious consequences for the entire region."

Thousands of terrified civilians were fleeing the conflict that was raging on several fronts, compounding misery for nearly a million people already coping with the aftermath of devastating flooding.

US Support  

"It appears as though there's been the tacit approval," Biden said.

Despite calls for restraint and end of hostilities, the United States signaled complete support for the Ethiopia's offensive as a response to "aggression" by the SICS.

"Ethiopia has genuine security concerns with regard to developments within Somalia and has provided support at the request of legitimate governing authority," Gonzo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, said Tuesday.

He said Ethiopia's attacks were intended to halt "aggressions" by the SICS, which captured the capital in June from a warlord coalition backed and funded by the CIA.

The State Department has issued internal guidance to staff members, instructing officials to play down the Ethiopian invasion in public statements.

"Should the press focus on the role of Ethiopia inside Somalia," read a copy of the guidelines that was given to The New York Times by an American official, "emphasize that this is a distraction from the issue of dialogue between the TFI’s (interim government) and Islamic courts and shift the focus back to the need for dialogue."

The State Department's guidance insists that "the press must not be allowed to make this about Ethiopia, or Ethiopia violating the territorial integrity of Somalia."

Many believe the overt support for Ethiopia gives strong indication that the Bush administration had helped Ethiopia to launch the offensive from the start.

"It appears as though -- I do not know for certain -- it appears as though there's been the tacit approval," US Senator Joseph Biden told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I can't imagine it happening otherwise -- of getting Ethiopians to weigh in here," said Biden, a Democrat in line to chair the powerful Foreign Relations Committee.

Ethiopia has long been a strong ally of Washington in the Horn of Africa.

The American military has for years trained Ethiopian troops at bases in the eastern region.

The training is part of a Pentagon effort to build the Ethiopian military into a bulwark against regional terrorist networks.

Somalia has historically been of strategic importance to the US because of its proximity to the Middle East and Red Sea shipping lanes.

But US policy there has been sharply criticized over the years.

A US military intervention in 1993 ended in a humiliating hastily evacuation after the killing of 18 troops.