From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue May 05 2009 - 01:55:28 EDT
Eritrea rejects accusations of supporting Somali insurgents
Tuesday 5 May 2009 05:13.
May 4, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) - Eritrea denounced accusations of supporting
Somali Islamist insurgents saying it was tired and sick of such
accusations.
Different reports mention Eritrea as the principle weapon provider for
the Somali insurgents who were fighting the Ethiopian troops in Somalia.
Asmara also had been accused of coordinating with Iran in its support
for the Somali opposition groups.
Also, the newly formed government in Mogadishu said this week that
Eritrea continues to send weapons like AK-47s, roket-propelled grenades
(RPG) etc to al Qaeda-linked Al-Shebab group.
However an Eritrean official dismissed the accusations describing it as
false and have hidden motivation. "We're tired and sick of these false
accusations," Yemane Ghebremeskel, director of President Isaias
Afwerki's office told Reuters on Monday.
"These accusations are advanced for ulterior motives," he added.
Somali opposition groups who were in power up to the end of 2006 were
received by the Eritrean government after their eviction by the
Ethiopian troops who had crushed Islamic courts and restored the former
Somali government. Asmara still the home of some opposition groups.
A U.N. panel of experts monitoring an arms embargo on Somalia has
designated Eritrea as a weapons supplier for insurgents.
Somali National Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden on Sunday called on
the international community to help stop Asmara sending arms to al
Shabaab, whom Washington put on its list of terrorist groups.
In a related development two days ago the President Afwerki in an
interview with a pro-Iranian TV based in Beirut, Al-Manar, denied
reports about Iranian and Israeli bases in his country.
"President Isaias pointed out that Eritrea is not in need of a foreign
base, be it from Iran, Israel or any other party, and that the rumor
disseminated is but concocted by western intelligence networks for other
objectives," said the official Shabait website.
(ST)
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