January 27, 1978

SECTION: WORLD AFFAIRS; Horn of Africa

PAGE: Pg. 43 E2
 

HEADLINE: Western Allies Discuss Ogaden War

BODY:
   Representatives of the U.S., Britain, France, West Germany and Italy met in Washington Jan. 21 to discuss the war in
Ethiopia's Ogaden region. The meeting was part of an effort to coordinate Western policy on ending the conflict and stemming
the buildup of Soviet and Cuban involvement in the area. [See p. 3C3]

The representatives issued a joint statement urging both sides to negotiate, and they "reaffirmed full support" for efforts by the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) to promote a peaceful settlement.

(Somalia Jan. 14 had expressed willingness to consider negotiations, but Ethiopia had refused as long as Somali forces
occupied the Ogaden region. It was widely acknowledged that units of the regular Somali army were fighting with Ogaden
guerrillas to annex the region to Somalia.)

Ethiopia, Somalia Score U.S. Policy -- Both Ethiopia and Somalia sharply criticized U.S. policy toward the Horn of Africa
conflict, although the U.S. had not expresed support for either side.

Ayalew Mandefro, Ethiopia's ambassador to the U.S., charged Jan. 20 that Washington was supporting the "Somali
aggression" by failing to condemn the Somali involvement.

Somali Ambassador Abdullahi Addou Jan. 18 had criticized the U.S. for its decision the day before to reject a Somali request
for arms to offset the U.S.S.R.'s furnishing Ethiopia with more than $800-million worth of equipment. Somali President Siad
Barre had made the request in meetings Jan. 16 with the heads of missions from the U.S., Britain, France, West Germany and
Italy.

The implications of the conflict in the Horn of Africa made it difficult for the Western powers to come to Somalia's aid. There
was substantial sympathy in the OAU for Ethiopia's position that it was fighting to maintain its territorial integrity.

The African nations had committed themselves to maintaining the national boundaries drawn by the European colonial powers,
in spite of the fact that those boundaries had taken no account of ethnic and tribal divisions. The OAU feared that if the Somalis
succeeded in uniting all ethnic Somalis under one flag, similar wars would erupt all over Africa. As a result, the OAU did not
take a strong stand against the Soviet and Cuban aid to Ethiopia, although the organization was concerned over the recent
growth of outside involvement on the continent.

Carter Warns Soviet Official -- U.S. President Jimmy Carter Jan. 25 told the head of a delegation from the U.S.S.R.
Supreme Soviet (parliament) that U.S.-Soviet relations could suffer if Moscow escalated its military role in the Horn of Africa.
In a one-hour meeting with Boris Ponomarev, Carter stressed that cooperation in other areas of the world, such as Africa and
the Middle East, was essential to promoting closer bilateral ties.

Soviet, Cuban Troop Role Danied -- In a news conference in Addis Ababa, Maj. Birhanu Baye, a member of Ethiopia's
ruling military council, Jan. 18 denied that Soviet or Cuban personnel were either fighting with the Ethiopian army or serving as
military advisers. His statement was echoed in a London news conference the same day by Ethiopian Deputy Foreign Minister
Dawit Wolde-Ghiorgis.

Maj. Dawit said the Soviets and Cubans provided equipment only.  (According to the latest estimates of Western intelligence
sources, 2,000 Cuban and 1,000 Soviet military advisers were in Ethiopia. The U.S. reported Jan. 12 that Cuban Defense
Minister Paul Castro [Fidel Castro's brother] had paid a secret visit to Ethiopia to plan a counteroffensive in Ogaden.)

Dawit asserted that Ethiopia would not invade Somalia in its drive to push back the invasion of Ogaden, which Somalia had
charged Jan. 16. The specter of an Ethiopian invasion of Somalia had brought a reaction from Shah Mohammed Riza Pahlevi of Iran. The shah was reported Jan. 2 to have warned that Iran would not remain neutral if Ethiopia crossed Somalia's borders. (It had been reported that Iran supplied arms to Somalia.)
______________________________________________________________________