Somalia’s Transitional National Government (TNG) has put its forces on full alert. It says it is acting in response to reports of a heavy military build up of Ethiopia troops, tanks and armoured personnel carriers along the border between the two countries. Only last month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi admitted to the BBC that he had occasionally sent troops into neighbouring Somalia to attack members of the militant Islamist group, al-Ittihad. But Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Tekede Alemu, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa that the current allegations from Mogadishu were “completely false”. He denied that Ethiopia was massing troops on the border – and he also denied an earlier charge that some Ethiopian forces had already crossed into Somalia. Crisis meeting The Somali council of ministers has been holding an emergency meeting with parliament, to consider its response to what they say is the possibility of an Ethiopian attack. It decided to recall its delegates from faltering peace talks taking place in Kenya for “consultations”. Full Story
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