The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is active in Ethiopia's Region 5, which is home to Ogadeni Somalis, and to non-Ogadeni Somalis grouped together as the Ethiopian Somali Democratic League (ESDL) (AC 14 Feb. 1997; Emergency Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) n.d.). The EUE report states that it is difficult to identify a single, coherent structure or platform of the ONLF because

representation appears to be diffused between the Front's Addis Ababa and London offices, while operational decision-making remains effectively the domain of the leadership in the field. Statements by one or another group cannot therefore be taken at face value, since the relationship between the movement's spokesmen and its armed formations is uncertain. In terms of renouncing the armed struggle and embracing the new Ethiopian democracy, it is probably the decision of the ONFL's field commanders and executive committee that matters most.

Africa Confidential indicates that ONLF is divided into an Islamist wing and an anti-Addis wing, which is allied with Somalia's Al Itahad al Islamic (14 Feb. 1997). In 1996, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) reportedly signed an alliance with the ONLF (Islamist) and the Beni Shangul People's Liberation Movement. The alliance offered the OLF "better access to western Oromo areas, where it has much support" (ibid.).

According to Country Reports 1997, the political participation of some elements of the ONLF, along with other groups such as Medhin, the Coalition of the Ethiopian Demoratic Forces (COEDF), the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), and the OLF, is circumscribed because these groups refuse to renounce violence and to recognize the legitimacy of the current government (1998, 117).

According to The Indian Ocean of 24 January 1998, the executive committtes of the Ethiopian Somali Democractic League (ESDL), another significant political group in Region 5, and the ONLF met in Jijiga in January and decided to merge. The two parties reportedly agreed to set up a joint committee "to prepare the merger and administer Somali Regional State until the merger is completed" (ibid.). Apparently the merger between the ONLF and the ESDL has been rejected by the ONLF (Islamist) faction of sheik Ibrahim Abdullahi, which carries out sporadic attacks in the region, and which is believed to have "kidnapped an Austrian student in [the Somali] Region in March after mistaking her for an Addis government informer" (The ION 2 May 1998).

The EUE report notes that the ONLF has a widespread "potential base of support" in Region 5 and many local leaders proudly identify themselves with it and wear their ONLF credentials openly. "Elders and other community leaders admit that if the ONLF fighters resume their attacks on the government forces, they will be able to rally public support to their cause" (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Africa Confidential [London]. 14 February 1997. "Horn of Africa: Alliances."

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997. 1998. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter [ION]. 2 May 1998. "Which Diplomat Would You Believe? (NEXIS)

_____. 24 January 1998. "Ethiopia: Single Party for Region Five."

United Nations. Emergency Unit for Ethiopia (EUE). n.d. "Update on the Situation in Region 5 (Somali) of Ethiopia." [Internet] [Accessed 10 July 1998]. http://ww.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. January - May 1998. Vol. 35.

The Ethiopian Register [Minnesota]. January - April 1998. Vol. 5. Nos. 1-4.

_____. January - December 1997. Vol. 5. Nos. 1-12.

Horn of Africa Bulletin [Uppsala]. January - April 1998. Vol. 10. Nos. 1-4.

_____. January - December 1997. Vol. 9. Nos. 1-6.