of Ethiopian troops, leading to the collapse of the talks. On 22 June, 2006 a communique was issued announcing that both parties recognized each others legitimacy and that neither would engage in hostile propaganda against the other. Both parties agreed to renew talks and meet again on 17 July, 2006. Second Khartoum ICU/TFG talks, intervention and Baidoa Bombing The TFG was alarmed by the rapid territorial expansion of the ICU and feared that it was attempting to encircle its capital in Baidoa. Neither party was willing to go to Khartoum for the second planned conference. The TFG insisted that the ICU withdraw to the territory it had occupied during the June conference, while the ICU demanded the withdrawal of Ethiopian military contingents in Somalia before discussions resumed. The two primary mediators, the Arab League and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) were both viewed as biased by the ICU and TFG. The ICU accused the IGAD of being partial to the TFG, while the TFG accused the Arab League of complicity with the ICU. The ICU continued to gain territory around Baidoa and lacking any troops of its own the TFG requested foreign support. On 20 July, 2006 Ethiopia deployed hundreds of troops to Baidoa. This prompted an immediate warning from Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed that the organization would invoke a jihad against Ethiopian forces if they did not withdraw. Numerous Somali witnesses and a BBC correspondent reported seeing Ethiopian Army trucks and hundreds of soldiers crossing the border and entering Baidoa. The TFG would publicly deny the existence of Ethiopian forces in Baidoa and argued the claims were ICU propaganda. TFG minister of information Mohammed Abdi Hayir, claimed that sightings of Ethiopian forces in Somalia were a result of confused identity as Ethiopia had merely provided 4,000 uniforms to TFG forces. Ethiopian minister of information, Berhan Hailu announced soon after the deployment, “We will use all means at our disposal to crush the Islamist group if they attempt to attack Baidoa, the seat of the Transitional Federal Government.”'' Eventually talks did resume, but in September instead of July 2006. Negotiations quickly broke down over the issues of Ethiopian forces and ICU expansion. According to former Somali diplomat and writer Ismail Ali Ismail, the failure of the second Khartoum talks stemmed from incompetent mediation, as he argues that the roadblock could have been resolved if the mediators had suggested and