SOMALI MILITANT VOWS TO PRODUCE 'CORPSES'

By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 24, 2:33 PM ET

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A leader of the Islamic militia controlling most of southern Somalia said Monday he will produce "corpses or POWs" to prove that neighboring Ethiopia has sent soldiers across the border to protect Somalia's weak government.

Ethiopian and Somali government officials have not confirmed that Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia, despite widespread witness accounts that the soldiers arrived four days ago.

"The Ethiopians have denied the occupation in our land, but we shall show the world corpses or POWs from their ranks," Sheik Muqtar Robow, deputy defense chief for the Islamic group, said during an anti-Ethiopia rally that drew 5,000 people in the capital, Mogadishu.

Enraged Somalis packed a stadium, burned an Ethiopian flag and carried signs that said, "We Must Fight Them!" The militia, known as the Supreme Islamic Courts Council, seized control of the capital and much of southern Somalia after months of bloody battles.

Abdullahi Yusuf, president of the country's weak, U.N.-backed interim government, is allied with Ethiopia and is known to have asked for its support. His government may be reluctant to acknowledge that the Ethiopians have come to its aid because largely Christian Ethiopia has long-standing tensions with mostly Muslim Somalia.

"I came here to show that the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia is illegal," said Amina Hagi, a mother of four in Mogadishu, where anti-Ethiopian sentiment runs high.

Salad Ali Jeeley, the government's deputy information minister, said Monday's rally was "aimed at igniting the conflict in Somalia."

Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and turned on each other, carving much of the country into armed camps.

The new government was established two years ago with the support of the United Nations but wields no real power, has no military and only operates in Baidoa, 150 miles from Mogadishu.

The Islamic militia's seizure of power prompted grave concerns in the United States, which accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Islamic militiamen moved within striking distance of Baidoa last week. Witnesses reported that Ethiopian troops had moved into Baidoa and nearby Wajid.

Wajid resident Farah Yaire said an Ethiopian military helicopter has been landing every day at an airport that is closed to civilians.

Solomon Abebe, spokesman for the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, refused to address the witness accounts but lashed out at the Islamic militia's leader, calling Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys a terrorist.

Earlier Monday, a Somali warlord and 150 of his militiamen offered their support to the government. Mohamed Qanyare Afrah was among a group of secular warlords and their allies driven from Mogadishu by the Islamic militia.

The secular warlords were backed by the United States. Their battles with the militia killed 400 civilians, according to a report Sunday from a Somali human rights group.