Mogadishu Holy Koran Radio (in Somali) — FM station that identifies itself as “the voice of Ahlu Sunnah Waljama, Mogadishu”

[Announcer] The Islamic Courts Council has emphatically responded to the remarks made yesterday by the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, who, while addressing parliament, said his country was prepared for a fierce war against the Islamic courts. Hasan Kafi Qoyste has the details:

[Qoyste] The chairman of the executive council of the Islamic Courts, Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad, who held a news conference last night in Mogadishu, responded to the statement by the Ethiopian prime minister read before the parliament yesterday. In his address, Mr Zenawi stated that following the collapse of the talks between the Somali federal government and the Islamic courts, his country has taken fresh steps to salvage his country, adding that preparations for war have been completed against the Islamic courts.

Speaking on behalf of the Islamic courts, the chairman of the executive council, Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad, said during the news conference that the Somali people will defend themselves and were ready to enter jihad against the Tigrayan troops, whose enmity he said was not new but had began a long time ago.

[Shaykh Sharif] “Meles Zenawi’s war against the Somali people has been going on for a long time. It includes the collapse of the Muhammad Siyad Bare government as well as various failed attempts that have dragged for the past 16 years to form a Somali government – which became impossible and very difficult owing to the warlords in the country, especially in the capital city.

A big change has been noted after Mogadishu became peaceful and the warlords removed, because they were actually agents of the enemy. When the agents failed to perform their designated tasks, he himself decided to do the job by himself in various phases.

First he said they are in the country to defend the (?federal government) and has reiterated again saying they are here for that purpose. Then, finally they announced a declaration of war on the Islamic courts, which implies Somalia in general. The Somali people have always been protected by Allah, the Almighty God, and, this time too, they will be protected from this danger, God willing. And, with God’s permission, Meles Zenawi will be defeated.

The troops he has deployed here are Tigray, as well as others who have been hired and some brought here by force, that is the composition. The battle field in not Ethiopia, it is not Addis Ababa; it is inside Somalia, hence, the Islamic courts and the Somali people are obliged to defend their country and defend it through Jihad.

I want to make those points pretty clear: Meles Zenawi has commented on the reasons why the courts were fighting and declaring Jihad. So, according to the courts, Jihad is the official means employed by Muslim nations to defend themselves against oppression. That is, if Meles Zenawi has deployed all his troops in Somalia and declared war, what logical options are available to the Somali people if they are to carry out their responsibilities? The only option is to come out for Jihad and defend themselves against the enemy. So, we have the rights to go for Jihad; the Somali people are ready for it and Meles Zenawi or his likes cannot prevail over the Somali people, and God will give them the victory.”

[Qoyste] On the other hand, the assistant defence minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG], Salad Ali Jelle, who was asked to comment on the Ethiopian prime minister’s remarks and his war plans against the Islamic courts, said the Ethiopian prime minister has the right to self defence, because, according to Mr Jelle, the Islamic courts’ forces are fighting inside Ethiopia.

[Jelle] “The Ethiopian government is being fought and as you know, fighting is going on inside its territory. The courts are carrying out attacks inside Ethiopia, that is known. What is disturbing Ethiopia is that forces are being sent into its territory – Oromos, Eritreans, the Al-Qa’idah and terrorist groups – all fighting inside there, from where Ethiopia says it was defending itself. As he [Zenawi] put it, not my own opinion, you know the courts had earlier said they will attack Ethiopia and kill its troops; such are the things the courts had said before, something which he is fighting off.”

^{[Passage omitted: Qoyste on US support for lifting arms sanction on Somalia]}