JEDDAH, 25 April — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose country recently hosted a meeting of Somali factions opposed to a new government in the Horn of Africa nation, said Ethiopia is not against the government of President Abdi Kassim Salad Hassan but wants it to work with other factions to resolve the country’s problems.
Faction leaders forming a group known as the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) met in Ethiopia in March and agreed on the establishment of a national representative government in a direct challenge to Salad’s administration. Somalis have been without a central government for more than 10 years.
“The purpose of that meeting was to allow all Somalis to come together and resolve their own problems. We are not against this (Salad’s) government. We are for peace and stability in Somalia and we want the government to work together with other factions. We don’t believe that any faction can impose itself on others,” Zenawi said.
He was speaking in Jeddah after talks at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry with Saudi businessmen. The prime minister is leading a large delegation of ministers and senior officials in his first visit to the Kingdom aimed at promoting economic relations. On Monday he met with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard.
Zenawi said Ethiopia is in favor of reconciliation among all Somali factions and does not believe that violence and war will help create a stable Somalia. “The Somalis have their own view, we have our own view. The fact that some Somali faction leaders are in Ethiopia or visit the country does not mean we support (their ideas). Our view is that there should be peace and stability in Somalia, and the only way to bring that about is through dialogue,” he said.
On relations with neighboring Eritrea which was locked in a bloody border war with Ethiopia recently, Zenawi expressed satisfaction that an agreement between the two countries ending the war has been implemented. “I am satisfied that guns have fallen silent in the Horn of Africa.”
He, however, accused Eritrea of pursuing a militaristic policy which he said is hindering the normalization of his country’s relations with Asmara.
“It is the basic attitude of the current government of Eritrea toward its neighbors; their militaristic attitude toward their neighbors” that hinder the normalization of relations. “This is the main cause of the problem”, he said.
