SECTION: WORLD AFFAIRS; Horn of Africa

PAGE: Pg. 178 D2

HEADLINE:  Somalia Withdraws Ogaden Forces

BODY:
   Somalia announced March 9 that it had ordered its troops to pull out of Ehiopia's Ogaden area. The announcement paved
the way for an end to the eight-month war over Ethiopia's southeastern desert region. [See p. 137A1]

In its announcement, the Somali government requested the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the Horn of Africa, a reference
to Soviet and Cuban personnel assisting Ethiopian troops. Somalia also called for a "just and lasting" settlement to the Ogaden
dispute and the granting of "self-determination" for the people of the region, who had been fighting to join their territory to
Somalia.

Somalia's decision to withdraw from Ethiopia was announced by U.S. President Jimmy Carter at a press conference March 9.
Carter praised the decision and expressed the hope that the Organization of African Unity "can move quickly to assist all parties to terminate hostilities." [See p. 160D3]

Carter added taht "the U.S. looks forward to the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces from the two countries -- Ethiopia
and Somalia -- at an early date." He called for an agreement to "insure the territorial integrity for all countries in the region and
the honoring of international boundaries."

(According to the U.S. State Department March 10, the Soviet Union had told the U.S. that Soviet and Cuban troops would
be reduced once Somali forces were withdrawn. The State Department added that the Soviet Union agreed on a plan to send
neutral observers to Ogaden to enforce a cease-fire.)

Ethiopia demanded March 10 that Somalia renounce all territorial claims to foreign soil as a precondition for a ceasefire in
Ogaden. In addition, Ethiopia demanded compensation from Somalia for war damages. (Somalia laid claim to several
neighboring areas inhabited by ethnic Somalis. The areas included Djibouti and part of Kenya in addition to Ogaden.)

The Somali pullout had come after a swift Ethiopian advance through Ogaden. Ethiopia March 5 announced the recapture of
Jijiga, the most vital stronghold the Somalis had been able to take in their campaign. After Jijiga's recapture, the Ethiopian
forces had swept virtually unopposed through Ogaden with the help of the Soviets and Cubans. Somali troops were reported
retreating in disarray.

Ethiopia March 13 said its forces had reached the Somali border in two places, having recaptured almost every town on the
way. The day before, Ethiopia reported that the railway line from Addis Ababa, its capital, to the Red Sea port of Djibouti had
been reopened. The U.S. State Department March 14 reported "a cessation of hostilities" as the Somalis withdrew.

(Meanwhile, the Western Somali Liberation Front, the guerrilla group that Somalia had backed in Ogaden, announced March 8 that it would continue its struggle for the secession of Ogaden from Ethiopia.)

Cuban Troops Acknowledged -- Ethiopia March 2 admitted for the first time that Cuban troops were fighting on the front
lines in Ogaden. Ethiopian leader Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam told a rally in Addis Ababa that "Cubans, renowned for
shedding their blood anywhere, and at any time, for a just struggle and cause, are bracing themselves with the Ethiopian
People's Army at the front line."

The Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma March 14 had run a detailed account of the Cuban soldiers' part in the later stages of the fighting.  The Granma report was the first domestic report of the Cuban role in Ethiopia.
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