Ethiopia's Meles says won't wait for green light to attack Somali Islamists

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said his country would not wait for foreign approval to attack powerful Islamists in neighboring Somalia that many fear could lead to a regional war.

As the powerful Islamist movement poured troops into frontline positions outside the Ethiopian-backed weak Somali government's seat, Meles called for international understanding but said he needed no "green light" to attack.

Speaking to reporters in Addis Ababa two days after announcing to parliament that Ethiopia had completed preparations for war, he said he had heard calls for restraint on his side but did not agree with them.

"We respect their views but because it is our country which is being attacked, naturally we do not seek any light -- green, red, amber -- from anyone to protect ourselves," Meles said Saturday.

"The international community should be more supportive of Ethiopia," he said, asserting as he did to lawmakers on Thursday that his nation faced a "clear and present danger" from the Islamists.

"I want to stress again that we are not saying we might be attacked, we have already been attacked," Meles said of the Islamists, who have declared holy war on Ethiopian troops in Somalia deployed to protect the Somali government.

Many in the international community fear that all-out conflict in Somalia could engulf the Horn of Africa, drawing Ethiopia and its arch-foe neighbor Eritrea, which is accused of supporting the Islamists.

Meles said he agreed with diplomat who have called for dialogue to curb the tensions but that Ethiopia would act to defend itself.

"We agree that dialogue is the best way forward, nevertheless, we, as the direct victims of this aggression, feel that we might be forced, at some stage, to respond in kind," he said.

But even as the Islamists braced for conflict and accused Ethiopia of sending airpower to strike them, the prime minister said he had not yet made a decision on whether engage in direct military action.

"We do not yet feel the need to respond," he said, repeating that Ethiopia had several hundred military advisers, trainers and support staff in Somalia but not the thousands of combat troops alleged by UN experts and others.

He also maintained that no Ethiopian troops had yet been involved in combat with the Islamists who claim to have attacked several Ethiopian military convoys this week.

"There have been some clashes between elements of the (Somali government) and (the Islamists), minor incidents here and there, but in any case our troops have not been involved," Meles said.

Mainly Christian Ethiopia has watched with growing concern the rise on its southeastern border of the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu in June and now control most of southern and central Somalia.

With a large ethnic Somali population, Ethiopia fears radicalization of its sizable Muslim minority by the Islamists, some of whom are accused of links to Al-Qaeda, who have imposed strict Sharia law in areas they control.