MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamists whipped up religious fervor against Ethiopia on Monday, telling demonstrators God had commanded that they fight troops sent into the country by Addis Ababa to oppose their advance.
"We are telling Ethiopia that we are ready to die," said Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a senior Islamist in charge of defense.
"We've been commanded by God to fight you," he said at a rally of hundreds of mostly young men and a few veiled women at a football stadium in the Islamist-controlled capital.
The demonstrators set fire to an Ethiopian flag to cries of "God is great!"
At the same rally, Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed also condemned the Ethiopian presence, but suggested his movement may resume stalled talks with the government.
"The Islamic courts are ready for talks against the use of force or foreign troops," he told the crowds.
Witnesses say Ethiopia has moved thousands of troops across the border to protect Baidoa, provincial base of Somalia's interim government, against Islamists who have seized Mogadishu and a large swathe of the country.
Traditionally Christian Ethiopia fears a hardline Muslim state on its doorstep and possible Islamist aspirations to claim its southeastern, ethnically Somali region of Ogaden.
The Islamist-organized protest came as a group of Somali legislators urged the Ethiopians to leave the country. It was the first recognition from within the Horn of Africa's interim authorities of a military incursion by Addis Ababa.
As tension rose, the interim government bolstered defense lines around Baidoa.
Two warlords, defeated by the Islamists in a three-month battle for Mogadishu, sent men, mortars and anti-aircraft guns to the town and nearby Buur Hakaba, witnesses said on Monday.
In a separate deployment, local authorities sent up to 400 Ethiopian-trained Somali militiamen from the Gedo and Middle Jubba regions to reinforce the Baidoa defenses.
"We sent these militia to defend the government, to which we belong," Ahmed Bulle, district commissioner of Lugh town in Gedo, told Reuters by telephone.
ETHIOPIAN DENIAL
Addis Ababa has repeatedly denied sending soldiers across the border. But it has threatened to "crush" any Islamist attack on the government it helped to form in late 2004.
Some 16 lawmakers from the interim parliament issued a statement in Mogadishu saying: "Ethiopian troops should get out of Somalia as soon as possible and should cease from the constant aggression against Somalia.
"This move is a clear interference against the freedom and sovereignty of Somalia."
It was not clear where the lawmakers' allegiances lay, although some were believed to be Islamist sympathizers and their presence in Mogadishu seemed to support that.
Somalia has been plagued by conflict and without central rule since the 1991 ouster of a military dictator.
The Islamists have exploited deep-seated anti-Ethiopian feelings to rally support among the 10 million population.
"I've never taken part in any war or battle," said 18- year-old student Fozia Bashir, who wore a black veil that only revealed her eyes.
"But I swear I'm ready to defend my country against Ethiopia."
Reuters News Service
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