Jimma Times staff
 

Despite attempts to incorporate civil society members and Diaspora Somalis, sources state the opposition conference in Eritrea remains focused on armed movement. According to AFP, the spokesperson for the Islamic Courts Union and other Somali groups in Eritrea said they would adopt a “military strategy” against Ethiopian and Somalia government troops in order to "liberate Somalia from Ethiopia.”
 

However, most analysts say the ICU is only led by members of the Habr Gidir Ayr sub-clan, which is a stark minority both in Somalia and also in Mogadishu. Thus, ICU is expected to depend on the Eritrean government and foreign recruits from the Gulf area for any significant military campaigns.

 

 

According to AP, the Islamists in Asmara have warned Ethiopia to withdraw saying “it is now or never” to do so. Conference spokesman Zakariya Mahamud Abdi said “People who are specialists in the area of military operations” will organize the “liberation” of Somalia from the occupation.

 

 

There have been 16 conferences held outside Somalia to solve the problems in Mogadishu for more than a decade, but analysts state that the Mogadishu conference organized by the TFG being inside Somalia was very crucial for progress. However, according to BBC, the ICU leaders & other Somalis in Eritrea have “threatened war” and have organized a committee called the “Alliance for the liberation of Somalia (ALS). Two years ago, other anti-Ethiopian government forces in Eritrea also organized an armed group called Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD) which included the ONLF separatist rebels who are waging an armed conflict in the Ogaden of eastern Ethiopia.  Zakariya Mahamud Abdi  said Ethiopians must "surrender now" or face "extinction."