From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Mon Dec 28 2009 - 18:29:36 EST
Uganda blasts Eritrea over Somalia militia
Monday, 28th December, 2009
By Henry Mukasa
THE Government has welcomed the UN sanctions slapped on Eritrea for
supporting Somali insurgents and destabilising its neighbour, Djibouti.
The Minister for Regional Cooperation, Isaac Musumba, said yesterday
that Uganda played an important role through IGAD to ensure that
sanctions were imposed.
Eritrea facilitated insurgents against the legally constituted
government of Somalia which had fueled the violence, he noted.
He said the Eritrean government recruited, armed, and financed militants
and harboured people listed as wanted over the Somalia violence.
"They provided sanctuary to international criminals. It is a rogue
state. We petitioned for sanctions on behalf of IGAD and it is
gratifying that members of the UN Security Council adopted the
resolution."
The minister observed that Eritrea tried to attack an IGAD member state,
Djibouti, and recruited rebels to destabilise it. The two countries have
a border dispute.
"We are going to demand for more stringent sanctions from the
international community against that country. It's a spoiler."
The resolution said Eritrea's actions undermined peace and
reconciliation in Somalia. It called the dispute between Djibouti and
Eritrea a threat to international peace and security.
The Security Council demanded that Eritrea makes available information
on Djiboutian combatants missing in action since the clashes in June
2008. This, the UN said, would enable those concerned to ascertain the
presence and condition of the prisoners of war.
The UN sanctions imposed last week constitute an arms embargo, travel
bans on key leaders and freezes of their assets and businesses.
The resolution was backed by 13 votes out of 15. China abstained while
Libya voted against. The resolution directs Eritrea to "cease arming,
training and equipping armed groups and their members, including al
Shabaab". The latter is accused of having links with al Qaeda.
The asset freeze is expected to curb the finances of the individuals and
businesses that fund the Eritrean regime, while the travel ban is aimed
at the military and political leaders.
The African Union, during its summit in Sirte, Libya last July, asked
the UN to impose sanctions on Eritrea.
Eritrea has repeatedly denied that it supports Al Shabaab militants
fighting to topple the Somali government.
"The Security Council has decided to impose sanctions on Eritrea on
fabricated lies, mainly concocted by the Ethiopian regime and the US
administration," said Eritrea's ambassador to the UN Araya Desta.
However, the UN monitoring group found that the Eritrean government
secretly shipped arms, including missiles and explosives, to Islamic
insurgents in Somalia.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/705451