For information on the Al-Itihad please consult ETH31497.E of 19 March 1999; ETH31306 of 2 March 1999, ETH30688 of 8 December 1998 and numerous other Responses on the subject.

According to the Defense-data Website,

Al-Itihad Al-Islam has been fighting to unite Ethiopia's Ogaden region, formerly Western Somalia, with Somalia. The London-based newspaper Al-Hayat on March 29 cited the head of the National Front for the Liberation of Ogaden (NFLO), Mohamed Umar Uthman, as stating that Addis Ababa's rejection of a dialogue with the NFLO left the group with no option but to intensify its military operations. Uthman denied his group had received military assistance from Eritrea, though he admitted the NFLO was in contact with Eritrea for political dialogue and is "willing to accept military assistance from Asmara and any other quarter, to help our forces in their confrontation with the Ethiopian Army." Besides the Ogaden conflict, Ethiopia is also coping with other separatist ethnic Somalis and Oromos. On March 17, Qaran reported that the Dagodi and Gare clans in Somalia had issued a statement expressing concern at and opposition to Aideed's support for Oromo rebels based in Somalia. The clans warned ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia to beware of the danger they faced. They also warned Aideed that he would be held responsible for the consequences of his actions, and urged his Habargidir clan to counsel him against continuing such support (7 Apr. 1999).

The following information corroborates the above: in Ethiopia, Oromos, ethnic Somalis, and the Al Itihad are carrying out a "low-level rebellion" against the current government (AFP 9 Mar. 1999). "Factions in Somalia ...are divided into pro-and anti-Ethiopian groups." Consequently, Ethiopia sometimes carries out incursions into Somalia (ibid., AP 9 Mar. 1999).

In February 1999 three Oromo nationals were abducted in Mogadishu "reportedly by Somali freelance gunmen hired by Ethiopia" (DPA 5 Feb. 1999). The Somalia militia commander of the Al Itihad, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, reportedly "offered an unspecified reward for the killing or apprehension of the abductors" (ibid.). On 20 March 1999, a member of the Al Itihad reportedly killed an American worker of the United Methodist Committee (UMCOR), Deena Marie Umbarger, in Kiamboni region in southern Somalia near the border with Ethiopia (AFP 30 Mar. 1999).

According to Country Reports on Human Rights "military forces conducted low-level operations against the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the Somalia-based Al'ittihad terrorist organization, and elements of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), although there was less of this activity than in 1997" (1999).

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.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 30 March 1999. "Une organisation islamiste accusée du meurtre d'une Américaine en Somalie." (AFP MAIL topic@acl.1.par.afp.com)

_____. 9 March 1999. "Ethiopia Accused of Invading Somalia." (NEXIS)

Associated Press (AP). 9 March 1999. "Ethiopian Soldiers Raid Somali Border Town." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1998. 1999. [Internet:] http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1998_hrp_report/ethiopia.html.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). 5 February 1999. "Moslem Scholars in Somalia Condemn Abduction of Oromo Nationals." (NEXIS)

Defense-data. 7 April 1999. "Somalia: Emerging Third Front in the Ethiopian-Eritrea War?" [Internet: http: //defense-data.com/current/page4123.htm [Accessed: 27 Apr. 1999]