Ethiopian foreign policy and the Ogaden War: the shift from “containment” to “destabilization,” 1977–1991

Abstract

With Siad Barre's invasion of Ethiopia in 1977, the military regime of the Derg implement policies aimed at the weakening and destabilization of the Republic of Somalia. This initiative was not entirely novel but was based upon precautionary plans first laid down under the imperial administration of Haile Selassie. The defeat of the Somalia army in the Ogaden would in fact herald the beginnings of the collapse of the power of Siad Barre and the Somali state, but the destabilization of Somalia has also destabilized the entire region of the Horn of Africa. This article charts the Ethiopian response to Somali irredentism at this crucial time, particularly focusing on the clandestine operations by the Derg to permanently eliminate the threat posed by Somalia. Previously untapped archival materials from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are used as the basis for this analysis of Ethiopia's foreign policy.

Keywords:

• Ogaden War
• Ethiopia
• Somalia
• Derg
• irredentism
• foreign policy

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway [grant number 214349/F10].

Notes

1. Ayele, “Somalia's Relations with Her Neighbors,” 657–66; Tareke, “The Ethiopia-Somalia War,” 635–6; Gibson, African Liberation Movements, 301–5; Bozeman, Conflict in Africa, 42–4.

2. Patman, Soviet Union in the Horn, 46–57.

3. Lefebvre, Arms for the Horn, 55–130, 131–43, 149–274; Jackson, Jimmy Carter and the Horn of Africa, 36–67, 68–101; Patman, Soviet Union in the Horn; Harbeson, “Military Rule,” 163–85; Shaw and Catharine, “Dependence and Interdependence,” 71; Boyd, “Origin of Boundary Conflict,” 165–71; McGowan and Johnson, “The Africa Project,” 204, 210–11.

4. Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives, Addis Ababa (hereafter MoFAA) Ogaden 2 242 and 331: “Comprehensive Action Plan against Somalia, July 4, 1966.” See also Spencer, Ethiopia, 27–30; Wallerstein, Africa, 76–7; Legum, Pan-Africanism, 47–8, 72; Rubenson, “Genesis of the Ethio-Somali Problem,” 641–61; Ayele, “Somalia's Relations with Her Neighbors,” 657–66; Belachew Yihun, “Ethiopia in African Politics,” 100–50.

5. Zewde, Modern Ethiopia, 236–56.

6. Zewde, Modern Ethiopia, 236–56; Zewde, “Embattled Identity in Northeast Africa,” 366–70; Zewde, “The Military and Militarism in Africa,” 286–8.

7. MoFAA etiyo-somale 8 5: Taye Reta (Ministry of Interior) to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereafter MoFA), August 10, 1976; Ministry of Interior to MoFA and Ministry of Defense: August 20, 1976; Alemayehu Kassa (Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces) to MoFA; Summary Report on Somalia Insurgency, September 1, 1976; Report on Somalia's Preparedness to Realize its Territorial Claims, September 7, 1976; Kebede Gebre-Maryam (Permanent Representative of the Derg, Ministry of Interior) to MoFA, October 24, 1976. Unless a new archival file is noted in the sequence of these notes, all reports and correspondence are from the first cited file. Also see Zewde, Modern Ethiopia, 254.

8. Zewde, Modern Ethiopia, 236–56.

9. MoFAA etiyo-somale 8 5: Telegram, Haile Selassie to Barre, April 6, 1973; Tibebu Bekele (Mogadishu) to Dr Menase Haile (Minister of Foreign Affairs), May 31, 1973.

10. MoFAA etiyo-somale 8 5: Taye Reta (Assistant Minister, Ministry of Interior) to Lt. Gen. Aman Mika'el Andom (Chairman of the Derg), September 18, 1974; Fitawrari Kebede Wodajo (Vice Governor of Harar) to the Derg, December 13, 1974; Br. Gen. Ma'ede-Mika'el Belachew (Head of Public Security, Ministry of Interior) to MoFA, December 27, 1974; Fitawrari Demise Tefera (Minister, Office of the Chairman of the Derg) to Col. Belachew Jemaneh (Minister of Interior) and Ayalew Mandefro (Minister of Defense), January 24, 1975.

11. MoFAA somale 18-D1 2: Haylu Kebede (Charge de Affairs, Mogadishu) to Getachew Kebret (Permanent Representative of the Derg in MoFA). On Somalia's Intentions for Open War, see MoFAA Ethio-Somale 8 5: Abdullahi Bade (Deputy Administrator of Harar Province) to Ministry of Interior, September 16, 1975; Report on Somalia's Military Built up along the Border: September 16, 1975; Lt. Col. Legese Wolde-Maryam (Minister of Interior) to Ministry of Defense: September 17, 1975; Fitawrari Meharene Menda (Administrator of Harar Province) to Lt. Col. Legese Wolde-Maryam: October 27, 1975; Memo on Somalia's Military Built up along the Border: October 29, 1975; Taye Reta (Ministry of Interior) to the Office of the Derg. On Somalia Military Build Up, MoFAA Somale 21-D1 4: Major Hayle-Maryam Lencho (Administrator of Bale Province) to Lt. Col. Legese Wolde-Maryam, December 18, 1975. On Insurgent Activities in Bale, ibid.: December 23, 1975.

12. MoFAA Kenya 56-D4 5: “Minutes of the Talk between Gen. Teferi and Gen. Barre, January 13, 1976.”

13. MoFAA somale 20-D1 90: pamphlets, War Clouds in the Horn of Africa and Samples of Recent Somalia Propaganda, January 12, 1976. Also see Tareke, “The Ethiopia-Somalia War,” 637–9, 643–67; Clark, “Debacle in Somalia,” 110–1.

14. MoFAA etiyo-somale 8 5: Taye Reta (Ministry of Interior) to MoFA, August 10, 1976; Ministry of Interior to MoFA and Ministry of Defense, August 20, 1976; Alemayehu Kassa (Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces) to MoFA, “Summary Report on Somalia Insurgency, September 1, 1976”; “Report on Somalia's Preparedness to Realize its Territorial Claims,” September 7, 1976 and October 24, 1976.

15. Zewde, Modern Ethiopia, 236–56.

16. MoFAA somale 21-D1 1: “Memo on Somalia's attack on the rail line, June 6, 1977”; MoFAA etiyo-somale gechet 1 teraz 2: Col. Dr Feleqe Gedle-Giyorgis (Foreign Minister) to Diplomatic Missions and the OAU, July 25, 1977; and to Ethiopian Embassies and Consulates, July 27, 1977. For the actual events of the Ethio–Somalia War, see Farer, War Clouds, 90–110, 120–1; Ayele, “The Ethiopian Army,” 114–42; Haile-Mariam, Teglachen, 430–82.

17. At the conclusion of the last efforts at reconciliation in South Yemen, immediately before the Ogaden War, President Barre, confident of a military victory, shook the hand of Mengistu and told him to have “a nice war.”

18. Haile-Mariam, Teglachen, 351–2; Belachew Yihun, “Ethiopia in African Politics,” 151–83; Ayele, “The Ethiopian Army,” 114–42.

19. MoFAA etiyo-somale gechet 1 vol.2: Policy Paper, August 30, 1977; Col. Dr Feleqe to Ambassador Mengiste Desta (Nairobi), November 3, 1977; Dr Feleqe to Dr Sertsu (Nairobi Embassy), November 9, 1977.

20. MoFAA somale 21-D1 1: Recommendation of the Good Offices Commission, August 8, 1977. Berhanu Dinqa (African and Middle East Directorate, MoFA) to Dr Feleqe, January 18, 1978; Dr Feleqe to Major Berhanu Bayeh (Foreign Committee Head of the Derg), January 19, 1978. MoFA etiyo-somale gechet 1 teraz 3. Security and Information Division of the Derg to MoFA, January 22, 1978; MoFAA etiyo-somale gechet 1 teraz 4: Tebebu Beqele (Permanent Representative of the Derg in the MoFA) to Dr Feleqe (Freetown); Directives for the Freetown Talks, July 4, 1980.

21. MoFAA somale 21-D1 1: Lagos Good Offices Committee Recommendation, August 23, 1980; Dr Feleqe to Peter Onu (OAU Secretary General), on continued Somalia aggression, August 9, 1980; Dr Feleqe to UN Secretary General, August 12, 1980; MoFA Press Release, August 20, 1980; MoFA to all Ethiopian Embassies and Consulate, August 26, 1980. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 teraz 2-2: OAU Communication Regarding the 18th Summit in Nairobi, August 14, 1981; Haylu Wolde-Amanuel (Head, African and Middle East Directorate) to Ethiopia's Embassies and Consulates, August 27, 1981.

22. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 teraz 2-2: Ambassador Fetegu Tadese (Rome) to Dr Feleqe, April 11, 1978; Wondwesen Haylu (Head, European Directorate of MoFA) to Ethio-Embassy in Rome, April 19, 1978.

23. MoFAA somale 7-D1 teraz 3: “Policy Paper on Somalia's Recent Approach,” September 6–7, 1978.

24. MoFAA somale 7-D1 teraz 3: “Policy Paper on Somalia's Recent Approach,” September 6–7, 1978.

25. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 87: “Policy Paper on Ethiopia's position in the Negotiation with Somalia, 1978 E.C (1985/86).” MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite ለ 13: “Joint Press Statement on the Talks between the Heads of States of Ethiopia and Somalia, January 18, 1986.”

26. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite ለ 13: Minutes of the 1st Session of the Ad Hoc Committee, Addis Ababa, May 6–9, 1986; MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2, Joint Statement of the First Session, May 9, 1986; Goshu Wolde (Foreign Minister, Mogadishu) to Tibebu Beqele (Permanent Secretary, MoFA), “Report on Mogadishu Talks, August 24, 1986”; Joint Statement of the Second Session of the Ad Hoc Committee, Mogadishu, August 28, 1986; MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite ለ 87: Report on the Second Session: August 1986; MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite ለ 12: Report on the Third Session of the Ad Hoc Committee, Addis Ababa, March 1987; Minutes of the Third Session, April 1987; MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite ለ 87: “Report on the Ethio-Somalia Negotiations from Djibouti (January 1986) to Addis Ababa (April 1987), March 1987”; MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2: Joint Statement of the Third Session, April 3, 1987; Berhanu Bayeh's (Foreign Minister) Press Statement: April 3, 1987.

27. See below for Ethiopia's association with anti-Siad Barre opposition groups.

28. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2: “Verbatim Records of the Talks between Mengistu and Barre, March 20–22, 1988.”

29. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2: Joint Statement Issued after the Djibouti Talks, March 22, 1988; Agenda for the 4th Session of the Joint Ad Hoc Committee Meeting in Mogadishu, March 22, 1988.

30. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2: Minutes of the Mogadishu Meeting, April 3, 1988.

31. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2: Analysis Report on Mogadishu Talks and Agreement, April 3, 1988; Mogadishu Agreement on Normalization of Relations and Joint Statement, April 3, 1988; Foreign Minister Berhanu Bayeh's Press Conference on the Agreement, April 4, 1988; “Report on the Entire Peace Talks with Somalia from 1986 to 1988, April 4, 1988.”

32. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2: Mengistu to Gen. Mesfen Gebrekal, April 12, 1988; MoFAA Ethio-Somalia astaraqi committee ለ 13: Maj. Gen. Mesfen to Mengistu, report on the withdrawal of Ethio-Somalia troops, July 20, 1988.

33. MoFAA etiyo-somale astaraqi comite 1 2: “Analysis Report on Mogadishu Talks and Agreement, April 3, 1988”; “Report on the entire Peace Talks with Somalia from 1986 to 1988”, April 4, 1988.

34. Patman, Soviet Union in the Horn, 46–7; Ghalib, Cost of Dictatorship, 123–4; Balthasar, “State-making in Somalia and Somaliland,” 92.

35. MoFAA somale 12-D1 133: Col. Yergu Endaylalu (MoFA) to Ketema, memo on the political turmoil in Somalia, July 18, 1962; MoFAA Ogaden 2 242 and 331: “Comprehensive Action Plan against Somalia,” first submitted on 4 December 1965 and endorsed as action plan on 4 July 1966. The plan was originally formulated by a detailed study conducted between November 9, 1965 and December 3, 1965.

36. Lyons and Samatar, Somalia: State Collapse, 14–9; African Watch Committee, Somalia, 27, 63–6, 127–9; Menkhaus, “Governance without Government in Somalia,” 78–81; Clark, “Debacle in Somalia,” 111–2; Gilkes, “National Identity,” 173–8.

37. MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 1 1: Mesfen Neguse (Charge de Affairs, Aden) to Dr Feleqe, on SSF, September 24, 1980; Mesfen (Aden) to African and Middle East Directorate, on Somalia opposition elements in Aden, October 10, 1980; Mendaye Deresa (North Africa and Middle East Division Head) to Mesfen (Aden), October 23, 1980; Argaw Kabtamu (Charge de Affairs, Djibouti) to Tibebu Beqele (Permanent Secretary, MoFA), November 7, 1980; Mesfen (Aden) to Dr Feleqe, January 30, 1981; Mesfen to Hailu Wolde-Amanuel (African Directorate), on failure to create a united front among the three, June 11, 1981.

38. MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 1 1: telegram, Ambassador Ayalew Wolde-Giyorgis (London) to Dr Feleqe, on the establishment of the SNM, April 7, 1981; Tesfaye Wolde-Selassie (Minister of State and Public Security) to MoFA, April 17, 1981; Hailu Wolde-Amanuel (African and Middle East Directorate) to Ethiopia's Embassies in Rome and London, May 6, 1981. Regarding Somali internal political crisis leading to the rise of opposition movements in Somaliland and other parts of the Republic see Höhne, “Political Identity, Emerging State Structures,” 398–402; Ahmed and Green, “The Heritage of War,” 116–9.

39. MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 1 teraz 3: Ambassador Tadese Teferra (Genève) to Goshu Wolde (Minister of Foreign Affairs), June 14, 1983; Dr Teshome Teklu (Head, African and Middle East Directorate) to Ambassador Tadese (Genève), August 8, 1983; Dr Teshome to Ministry of State and Public Security, July 23, 1983; Dr Teshome to Ethio-Embassy (Genève), July 23, 1983; Argaw (Charge de Affairs, Djibouti) to Moges Habte-Maryam (MoFA), August 11, 1983 (informants: Ambassadors Berhanu Dinqa and Yelma Tadese). See also Haile-Mariam, Teglachen, 434; Lyons and Samatar, Somalia: State Collapse, 17.

40. Belachew Yihun, “Ethiopia's Role,” details the parallel policies Ethiopia adopted toward Sudan.

41. MoFAA etiyo-somale yegara sememenetoch: “Policy Paper on Somalia, December 1989”; MoFAA etiyo-Somalia astaraqi comite ለ:, Ambassador Asmamaw's “Final Report on Somalia's Civil War and Ethiopia's Policy Directives, January 13, 1991” (informants, Ambassadors Berhanu Dinqa and Yilma Tadese). Also see Compagnon, “Somali Armed Movements,” 73–7; Lyons and Samatar, Somalia: State Collapse, 14–8.

42. African Watch Committee, Somalia, 63–9, 94, 127–8; Lyons and Samatar, Somalia; State Collapse, 17–9.

43. Rawson, The Somali State, 27–8.

44. Compagnon, “Somali Armed Movements,” 74–83.

45. MoFAA etiyo-somale yegara sememenetoch: “Policy Paper on Somalia, December 1989.”

46. MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 1 teraz 3: Telegram, Akalu (MoFA) to Belete Akale-Wold (Charge de Affairs, New Delhi), on wooing Aidid, September 15, 1988; Belete (New Delhi) to MoFA, on hidden discussions with Aidid, September 29, 1988; MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 teraz 4: Belete (New Delhi) to Asia and Australasia Directorate (MoFA), October 22, 1988 and November 25, 1988 (informant, Ambassador Berhanu Dinqa).

47. MoFAA ye etiyo-somale yegara comite 1 teraz 1: Ambassador Dr Asmamaw Kelemu (Mogadishu) to Alemayehu Seyfu (Head, African Directorate), December 22, 1988. Also see Africa Watch Committee, Somalia, 128–9; Rawson, The Somali State, 27–8; Lyons and Samatar, Somalia: State Collapse, 18. Gilkes, “Somalia: Conflicts within and against the Military Regime,” 54–8.

48. MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 teraz 4: Ambassador Dr Asmamaw (Mogadishu) to Berhanu Bayeh, January 3, 1989; Alemayehu Seyfu to Ministries of Defense and Interior, January 5, 1989; MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 5: Belete (New Delhi) to Asia and Australasia Directorate, March 9, 1989; MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 teraz 4: Ambassador Dr Asmamaw to MoFA, February 26, 1989 and December 24, 1989.

49. MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 teraz 4: Ambassador Asefa Wolde (Provisional Minister of Foreign Affairs) to Ethio-Embassy in Paris, “Directives to Counter Somalia's Diplomatic Mission, March 25, 1989”; Ambassador Dr Asmamaw to Alemayehu Seyfu (African Directorate), March 26, 1989; MoFAA etiyo-somale sememenet 1 2: Ambassador Asmamaw to Alemayehu Seyfu, Analysis on the 1st Anniversary of the April 1988 Agreement, April 3, 1989; MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 5: Intelligence Report on Somalia, April 19, 1989; Ambassador Asmamaw (Mogadishu) to Alemayehu Seyfu, on SNM Attack in North Somalia, May 10 and 12, 1989 and July 7, 1989; Intelligence Report on Somalia popular uprising against Barre, August 2, 1989. Also see Bayissa, “War and Peace in the Sudan,” 147; Compagnon, “Somali Armed Movements,” 75–7; Gilkes, “National Identity,” 178–83.

50. MoFAA etiyo-somale yegara sememenetoch: “Policy Paper on Somalia, December 1989.”

51. MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 5: Ambassador Asmamaw to MoFA, on his talks with Siad Barre, January 30, 1990; MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 2 6: Ambassador Dr Asmamaw to African and Middle East Directorate, August 2 and 20, 1990; MoFAA ye somale teqawami hayloch 3 7, Ambassador Asmamaw to African Directorate, on the Cairo Peace Conference, November 1990. See also Compagnon, “Somali Armed Movements,” 73–90.

52. MoFAA etiyo-Somalia astaraqi comite ለ:, Ambassador Asmamaw's final report on Somalia's civil war and Ethiopia's policy directives, January 13, 1991.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway [grant number 214349/F10].