US-Ethiopia drive in Somalia, Iran-backed Shiite rise fuel Sunni Arab worries

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Thursday, January 11, 2007

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By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt — Saddam Hussein’s unruly execution, gunbattles in Iraq and U.S. airstrikes on Somalia are increasing hostility toward America in the Arab world and deepening the Shiite-Sunni divide.

The conflicts in Iraq and Somalia are not directly connected, but this week’s U.S. strikes in the Horn of Africa country are feeding a fear among Sunni Muslim Arabs that a growing campaign is challenging their historic dominance of the Middle East.

In Somalia, the assault is seen as coming from mainly Christian Ethiopia, whose troops swept in to topple the hard-line Islamic Sunni group that had seized control of much of the country. In Iraq, the threat comes from Shiites, brought to power by the U.S. invasion and backed by Iran.

The Ethiopian invasion, “backed completely by the United States and Israel, ... has led to the occupation of a nation that is a member of the Arab League for more than 30 years, yet no one in the Arab world has moved,” columnist Fahmi Huweidi wrote Wednesday in the Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

“Anything has become permitted as long as the goal is to strike Islamic radicals, even if it leads to the occupation of an Arab nation and the defiling of its political honor, making it a morsel for the Americans, Ethiopians and Israelis,” he said.

The editor in chief of the Islamic Banner, an Egyptian goverment religious newspaper, went further, calling President Bush “Dracula ... thirsty for the blood of Arabs and Muslims.”

“He invaded Afghanistan ... then he invaded Iraq. Now I wake up to the news of U.S. forces striking Somalia, killing dozens of Muslims,” Mohammed al-Zarqani wrote. “Will Somalia become another Iraq or Afghanistan? The Dracula of the modern age is determined that it will.”

2 comment(s)

Girma W wrote on Jan 11, 2007 9:18 AM:

" Dear sir, I strongly object to the citations below, that the Ethiopians are attacking a muslim land. "The Ethiopian invasion, “backed completely by the United States and Israel, ... has led to the occupation of a nation that is a member of the Arab League for more than 30 years, yet no one in the Arab world has moved,” columnist Fahmi Huweidi wrote Wednesday in the Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. “Anything has become permitted as long as the goal is to strike Islamic radicals, even if it leads to the occupation of an Arab nation and the defiling of its political honor, making it a morsel for the Americans, Ethiopians and Israelis,” he said." The Ethiopians have a right to defend their soverignity when Islamic radicals wants a bit of southern Ethiopian(Ogaden region) and Kenyan teritory as their own. But to think that it is orcastrated by Americans is naive to say the least. I doubt if the Egiptians accept if Israel occupied Sinai and annexed it with out you fighting. "

mike wrote on Jan 11, 2007 1:59 PM:

" how could you not believe the US orchestrated this? The US was giving satellite images to Ethiopia of Islamist positions. Ogaden is islamic, therefor Somali you smart fool. "

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