US Central Command chief in terror talks with Ethiopia

Tue Jun 20, 10:28 AM ET

The head of the US Central Command General John Abizaid, seen here at King Abdullah Airbase Marka in Amman in March 2006. General Abizaid held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on local and international

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - General John Abizaid, the head of the US Central Command, held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on local and international efforts to combat terrorism, state media said.

The pair held talks "on national and international issues, especially on ongoing efforts in fighting terrorism," state-run Ethiopia News Agency said in a statement.
A key US ally in Washington's so-called war on terror, the largely secular Ethiopia is nervous about the swift victory of the Islamist forces in large swathes of neighbouring Somalia including the capital Mogadishu.
Over the weekend, Islamic courts chief Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed claimed that several hundred Ethiopian troops had crossed the border and were moving toward the interim government's seat in Baidoa, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) from Mogadishu.
But Addis Ababa denied the charge, saying it had however boosted troops along their common border in response to an Islamist provocation.
The United States, concerned about growing extremism in Somalia, helped bankroll a secular warlords alliance, the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), in February.
But the hardline Islamic militia in Somalia Wednesday captured the warlords' last strongholds after four months of fighting, and has begun setting up courts and administrations adhering to strict Sharia law.
The Islamists deny having links to extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda or harbouring foreign fighters, and instead claim to be working to restore law and order in the Horn of Africa nation.
AFP