London BBC World Service “Network Africa” program (in English) — 0600 GMT

Although, as we heard yesterday, the UN and the United States have disagreements about how to proceed on Somalia, talks aimed at a solution to the fighting are moving on apace. The U.S. representative has met with members of General Aidid’s faction, while the OAU and the UN have called for a summit meeting of African leaders in Addis Ababa next week to be chaired by President Mubarak of Egypt. It has been reported that the talks in the Ethiopian capital will be attended by the Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi, but there now seems to be signs of a new disagreement. Max Bankole Jarrett spoke to Adulmajid Hussein, Ethiopia’s minister for external economic cooperation, and asked him to clarify just who will and who will not be at the meeting in his capital next week.

[Begin recording]

[Adulmajid] Well, Mr. Jarrett, let me first make one point very clear. You said who is going to be at this conference? As far as Ethiopia is concerned, officially, we do not know about this conference and, therefore, from that you can surmise that Ethiopia is not going to take part in it, because we have not been approached, and we do not, in fact, see the need for it, since work on resolving the problem in Somalia has been going on behind the scenes. We think that such a conference at this stage is premature, and as I said officially, we are not aware of it.

[Jarrett] When you say, officially, you are not aware of it. how can a conference go ahead in your capital, Addis Ababa, without you being officially aware of it?

[Adulmajid] Well, that is very surprising and strange, is it not? But it is a fact.

[Jarrett] Has no one contacted you at all about the conference? Is that what you are saying?

[Adulmajid] Well, [clears throat] Excuse me, as far as our Foreign Ministry is aware of, they only heard it through what I will say secondhand, and after having found it, we were ourselves a little bit surprised. because the mandate has already been given by the OAU heads of state at their recent meeting in Cairo to our president, President Meles Zenawi, and so did the recent IGADD (Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development) summit of all the heads of state of the Horn of Africa states, plus some East African countries. like Uganda, who had also given the mandate to our president to pursue in finding a solution to the Somali issue. [sentence as heard]

[Jarrett] So are you saying that basically this conference or the UN moves or the OAU moves are going to conflict with the moves that the Ethiopian Government already has under way in trying to solve the problem in Somalia?

[Adulmajid] Well, all I can say is, as you have started with your question confusing, I think it will only confuse the matter, because there are already moves with those on the ground, in the area to deal with this issue behind the scenes, and which we think will be effective, and before these things have taken off the ground to come up with a conference like this I would say would only complicate the matters, yes.

[Jarrett] So has your government expressed its concern about this to the United Nations Secretary General Butrus-Ghali or the OAU Secretary General Dr. Salim Salim Ahmed?

[Adulmajid] I am sure this has already been done through the normal diplomatic channels, I believe.

[Jarrett] Moving on now, you say that moves are under way from your side to try and solve the problem in Mogadishu. What, for example, can you say is being done right now by your government?

[Adulmajid] Well, basically, as I have said, we have not moved unilaterally. We have moved in sending a delegation from Ethiopia and Eritrea to Mogadishu, and we are cooperating in fact with the UN and other members of the international community on that issue and trying to seek a solution based, I must emphasize, on the March agreement. of all the Somali factions held here in Addis Ababa.

[Jarrett] What about the United States? How are you working with them about this situation, because we heard that Robert Oakley, the U.S. envoy, was in Addis just over the weekend.

[Adulmajid] We are working very closely with the United States, and so you can rest assured that Ambassador Oakley, who has been in fact here first and then to Somalia and hopefully back again here shortly, is working closely with our president, who is, of course, in charge of this.

[Jarrett] But your style and that of the Americans is a very different one. Would you not prefer to see them. leave the scene completely and leave it to you?

[Adulmajid] Well, as I have said, in fact, we as the main country in the region and I must emphasize the point also that Ethiopia has almost 3,000 km of border with Somalia – so when everybody in fact is gone from Somalia, we will still be there, and those who may leave the place if it is still in the same situation will still be there, so we are happy to see other countries helping us in the situation. and we are also up to now been happy to work behind the scenes. [sentence as heard]

[End recording]

_{FBIS-AFR-93-196, 13 Oct. 1993, pp. 1-2}