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President Siad Barre speaking to interviewer
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SPEECH ON FILM (TRANSCRIPT)



BARRE (SEQ. 1): "Therefore, I do not think it is intelligent or wise to continue to fight and face one to another, a kind of false proudness, or self-proudness, or arrogance, but to try and search for a better solution a solution long-lasting (indistinct) on the matter which is the root of the problem."





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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: INTRODUCTION: Somalia's Siad Barre has called for fresh political initiative to bring about a lasting peace between his country and Ethiopia. But the Ethiopians should not regard his call as a sign of weakness, he warned. The president was speaking in the capital, Mogadishu, before leaving to attend the annual conference of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) in Nairobi.

SYNOPSIS: The president's call for new diplomatic initiatives followed his recent claim that the Ehtiopians had launched fresh attacks on Somalian villages. He accused them of carrying out several air and land offensives during the past month. Ethiopia denied sending forces across the border. It said the reports were fabricated to get the United States to speed up arms deliveries to Somalia. The two countries have clashed sporadically since their all-out war two years ago over the Ogaden territory. Ethiopia won, with Soviet and Cuban aid. Their joint claim on the region was one of the topics set for discussion at the Nairobi summit of about fifty African nations. President Barre was due to appear before his OAU colleagues to press his country's case yet again. But in this interview he stressed it was time for talking and not fighting.

Mr. Barre went on to say that Somalia wanted peace and though Ethiopia might think this was a weakness, it was not. He said Ethiopia had been attempting invasions of his country for four years, without making many gains. And there would be few gains for them in the future, he added.