AU troops 'may spark Somalia war'

By Martin Plaut
BBC News

Eritrea says Ugandan peacekeepers could spark war in Somalia

Eritrea has warned of dire consequences unless Uganda pulls its peacekeeping troops out of war-torn Somalia.

Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said that unless Uganda withdrew the situation would be increasingly dangerous for the entire region.

Mr Abdu said the Ugandan troops, who arrived in Somalia this week as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission, would only worsen the situation.

The deployment could prompt war between Somalis and external forces, he said.

'Puppet state'

Speaking to the BBC, the minister accused Ethiopia - which helped install the Somali government in the capital, Mogadishu - of wanting to carve up the country.

Mr Abdu said Ethiopia was acting as a puppet of the United States, which helped attack forces of the Islamic Courts as they fled before the Ethiopian advance.

Eritrea itself was accused by the United Nations of supplying arms and equipment to the Islamists - all part of their long-running dispute with Ethiopia over their common border.

The ramifications of that conflict are still rumbling across the region, and lie behind Mr Abdu's dire warnings to the Ugandan forces now installed in Somalia.