Ogaden rebels capture Jijiga
 

   Jijiga, a major town in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, had fallen to Somali-backed guerrillas Sept. 14, according to diplomatic
sources Sept. 18 in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, and Mogadishu, the Somali capital. The Ethiopian government,
however, gave no official word on Jijiga's status and continued to report heavy fighting in the area. [See p. 684G1]

The Western Somalia Liberation Front appeared to have succeeded in regrouping its forces after an Ethiopian repluse in early
September. The sources cited in press reports said the Ethiopian troops had abandoned Jijiga because of low morale, not
because of superior guerrilla tactics, as the rebels claimed. The front reported Sept. 18 that 3,000 Ethiopian soliders had died
in the fighting. It was believed the rebel forces had suffered similar losses.

The seizure of Jijiga meant the loss of a radar station that had been crucial to the successful Ethiopian defense of Diredawa,
another Ogaden city of strategic importance. In addition, Jijiga controlled a mountain pass leading to Diredawa and Harar and
could be used as a base for counterattacks on Somali territory. Ethiopia had threatened to attack Somalia over what it called
Somali's intervention on the side of the Western Somalia Liberation Front. Somalia Sept. 10 had charged Ethiopia with
bombing two Somali border villages.

(Ethiopia broke diplomatic relations with Somalia Sept. 7 and gave Somali envoys 48 hours to leave the country. Somalia
retaliated in a similar fashion the next day.)

Somalia denied that its regular army was fighting alongside the guerrillas but admitted giving them air and material support. The
Ethiopian government Sept. 14 escorted foreign journalists on a tour of Diredawa and its environs to exhibit captured Somali
equipment. The tanks, trucks, personnel carriers, artillery pieces and rocket launchers shown to reporters had Somali license
plates and military markings and were generally assumed to be proof of direct involvement by Mogadishu.

Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam, Ethiopian head of state, predicted Sept. 18 that the Ogaden war would be a long one. He
warned that the effectiveness of both the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity would be compromised by their
failure to stop Somalia's "war of aggression." In his first press conference since becoming undisputed head of government,
Mengistu said Somalia had violated UN and OAS principles by invading Ogaden.

Mengistu called reports of Cuban troops in Ethiopia "malicious rumors, "adding that Ethiopia would not request foreign troops.
He indicated that Ethiopia would be willing to purchase arms from the U.S. as well as the Soviet Union, but he charged that
Washington had blocked shipments of arms to Ethiopia, which already had been paid for. (The arms deliveries had been halted
when Ethiopa had abrogated the U.S.-Ethiopian military alliance.

Ethiopia gets Cuban aid, Kenyan offer -- Ethiopian radio reported Sept. 16 that 71 Cuban medical personnel had arrived the
day before. The report said the Cuban aid was the result of a recent agreement between the two countries.

A Kenyan official Sept. 9 had said Nairobi would give Ethiopia any help it could be repluse Somali aggression.Upon returning
from Addis Ababa, Michael Njenga, a presidential adviser, said, "Ethiopia's victory over the enemy will be a victory for
Kenya." (Somalia sought a union of all Somali-speaking peoples, which included groups living in northern Kenya as well as in
the Ogaden region.)

Somalia scores Ethiopia, U.S.S.R. Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre Sept. 14 accused Ethiopia of "aggression" in
Ogaden. In a speech during a state visit to Saudi Arabia, Barre also warned the Soviet Union indirectly to stop aiding Addis
Ababa.

It was believed that Barre's visit to Saudi Arabia was part of an effort by Arab nations to weaken Soviet influence in Somalia
and preserve Arab control of the Red Sea. Ethiopia's swift shift to Moscow and its breaking of traditionally pro-U.S. ties
apparently had supurred the Arab states into action. According to reports, Saudi Arabia had offered Barre as much as $300
million in aid to end Somalia's almost total dependence on Soviet economic and military aid.

(A Somali official Sept. 7 had announced that Moscow had halted shipments of military supplies to Mogadishu, and he had
indicated that Somalia might eject all Soviet advisers from the country if the shipments were not resumed. Diplomatic sources in
Mogadishu had reported that Soviet shipments were reaching the country but they consisted almost entirely of spare parts
instead of arms needed for immediate use in Ogaden.)

Somalia accuses U.S. of deception -- A Somali diplomat had accused the U.S. of giving Somalia a false impression of U.S.
support for the attack on Ogaden, according to the Sept. 26 issue of Newsweek magazine (on sale Sept. 19). Abdirizak Haji
Hussein, Somali ambassador to the United Nations, had told Richard Moose, U.S. assistant secretary of state for African
affairs, that the U.S. had "thrown away a unique opportunity to . . . establish [its] influence in the Horn of Africa," according to
the report.

Newsweek said Somalia had mounted its major offensive in Ogaden because of a U.S. promise to furnish arms aid. The U.S.
policy had resulted from Ethiopia's decision to expel U.S. military advisers from the country and its successful bid for aid from
the Soviet Union.

According to the report, Somali President Mohamed Said Barre had received secret U.S. assurances that the U.S. would not
oppose "further guerrilla pressure in the Ogaden" and would "consider sympathetically Somalia's legitimate defense needs." In
return, the U.S. had asked Somalia to drop its territorial claims on Kenya and Djibouti, the report said.

The swift escalation of the Ogaden war had surprised the U.S., according to the report. The U.S. apparently had not expected
its offer of aid to be taken as approval of a Somali invasion of Ogaden.  (It was generally agreed that Somalia was participating
actively in Ogaden.) As a result, opinions in the State Department were divided on whether to proceed with arms deliveries to
Somalia, according to the report. Opponents of the arms shipments prevailed in the end.

The State Department Sept. 19 denied that the U.S. had encouraged the Somali offensive directly or indirectly. Commenting on
the Newsweek article, a spokesman said the Somalis had misinterpreted the U.S. position during talks on possible arms sales.
He said the U.S. had stressed that it would send arms "for defensive purposes only."

Facts on File World News Digest

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