Somali rebels gain in Ogaden
 
 

   Ethiopia Aug. 4 admitted that most of its southeastern Ogaden area was occupied by guerrillas of the Western Somalia
Liberation Front (WSLF). The rebels, who were fighting to unite Ogaden with Somalia, had made rapid advances since the
beginning of the month, and they held all but the major towns of Diredawa, Harar and Jijiga, according to diplomatic sources.

Rebels Aug. 6 claimed to have killed or captured more than 2,000 Ethiopian troops, downed more than 30 planes and
destroyed or captured masses of military equipment since July 28. Sherif Hussein Mohamed, a WSLF official, Aug. 1 had said
his group would hold talks on unification with Somalia when control of Ogaden by the rebels was assured. He said there was a
total of 25,000 Ethiopian regular troops and peasant militiamen fighting 30,000 Somali guerrillas. Sherif added that the WSLF
had about 200,000 paramilitary supporters in Ogaden villages and towns.

(The WSLF and the Ethiopian government Aug. 1 had traded charges of massacring civilians in Ogaden fighting.)

Ethiopia Aug. 2 had appealed to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to intervene to end what it called the Somali invasion of Ogaden.A special OAU border mediation committee was convened Aug. 5 but was unable to accomplish much. Somalia Aug. 8 withdrew from the discussions when the committee turned down its request that the WSLF participate. The committee ended its mediation attempt Aug. 9 with a call to both sides to end "all acts of hostility."

Somalia Aug. 10 charged Ethiopia with planning to request 5,000 to 9,000 foreign troops to repel the rebels in Ogaden. A
Somali government spokesman did not say from which countries the troops would come, and he warned that foreign assistance
to the Ethiopian government would be met by foreign assistance to the Somali rebels. Ethiopia that day denied the Somali claim.
 

In other developments of the war:

* Newly independent Djibouti faced possible economic ruin because of the Ethiopian war, it was reported Aug. 8. The coastal
republic between Ethiopia and Somalia received most of its income from tolls and customs duties on Ethiopian goods shipped
from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa via the railroad connecting the two cities. Somali rebels had cut the rail line in eight
places, according to the report, and Ethiopia was shipping its cargo from Ethiopian ports on the Red Sea.

* The U.S.S.R. was pressuring Somalia to call a cease-fire in Ogaden, according to a report Aug. 4 in the Washington Post.
Diplomatic sources cited in the report said the Soviet Union was worried about the stability of the government of Lt. Col.
Mengistu Haile Mariam in the face of the deteriorating military situation in Ogaden and conflicts elsewhere in the country.

* Abdullah Egal Mur, the Somali ambassador to Italy, July 28 said his government would be willing to accept offers of arms
from the U.S. and Great Britain. He said his country could not remain indifferent if the Soviet Union continued to provide arms
to Ethiopia.

Facts on File World News Digest
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