Leaked Ethiopian Memo Echoes UNSC Members’ Positions on Eritrea Sanctions
By Matthew Russell Lee,
TesfaiNews - Posted on 11 July 2014. Tags
ON THE eve of the UN Security Council’s meeting on the Somalia and Eritrea
Monitoring Group, the buzz from the Horn of Africa has grown about an
Ethiopian Minister of Foreign affairs memo about Eritrea and sanctions.
As obtained by Inner City Press, the memo by Ethiopian Minister Berhane
Gebrekiristos bragged that “the P3 countries have been supportive of
sanctions against Eritrea… The former US Permanent Representative to the
UN, Ambassador Susan Rice, was instrumental in adopting the sanctions.The
current US Permanent Representative, Ambassador Samantha Power, may not be
as strong on Eritrea. But since Ambassador Susan Rice is serving as the
National Security Adviser of President Obama, she will ensure the
continuation of the US’s policy of sanctions Eritrea.”
[image: Without the vigorous support of the United States Government,
Ethiopia does not possess the regional or global diplomatic clout to defy
international law]
*Without the vigorous support of the United States Government, Ethiopia
does not possess the regional or global diplomatic clout to defy
international law*
The memo goes on, “France has supported the imposition of sanctions against
Eritrea, primarily due to the conflict with Djibouti.” It says “meetings
with the UK Permanent Representatives have confirmed that the UK will not
change its position.”
Non-permanent members are also reviewed: “the Eritrean president has
participated in the independence day of Chad in 2011 but we don’t believe
Chad will be supportive of Eritrea’s efforts to lift the sanctions.”
Then, “Lithuania has a good relationship with the US and as a member of the
EU it tends to implement the common position of the Union… Australia and
South Korea tend to take positions similar to that of the US. Jordan has
assigned non-resident Ambassador to Eritrea… During its previous membership
of the UNSC, Chile had expressed that in accordance to international law
Eritrea has a better legal case.”
One problem, the memo says, is the last report of the Somalia Eritrea
Monitoring Group: “Italy, Norway, Kenya and Somalia who were mentioned in
the report also criticized the Group. The Group’s reports exposed the
rampant corruption in the Somali Government.”
As Inner City Press first reported, Somalia asked that the chair of the
SEMG be fired; Kenya declared one of the Group’s members persona non-grata.
So, the Ethiopian memo counsels, Ethiopian diplomats should “facilitate the
resolution of the misunderstanding the group has with Kenya and Somalia.”
Good luck.
Now, the Council’s set to meet behind closed doors about the Somalia and
Eritrea Monitoring Group on July 11.
Source:
http://www.tesfanews.net/leaked-ethiopian-memo-echoes-unsc-members-positions-on-eritrea-sanctions/
Received on Fri Jul 11 2014 - 05:23:27 EDT