From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed May 20 2009 - 05:03:50 EDT
Kenyan government holds main accountability for the abduction of 3 Eritrean
journalists in the streets of Nairobi: President Isaias
By Staff
May 19, 2009, 13:29
Asmara, 19 May 2009 - President Isaias Afwerki said that the Kenyan
government holds main accountability for the abduction of 3 Eritrean
journalists in the streets of Nairobi.
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In an interview with the Kenyan Television Network (KTN), the President
pointed out that as the crime committed against the Eritrean journalists who
were abducted in the streets of Nairobi and transferred to Mogadishu in
chains and whose whereabouts still remains unknown took place in sovereign
Kenyan territory, the Kenyan government is to be held accountable, and that
Eritrea would never overlook the issue.
As regards IGAD, he explained that while the regional organization was meant
to serve as the driving force for partnership and development, in reality
however it remains a tool in the service of foreign agendas and the source
of problem. Stating that IGAD's blessing of Ethiopia's naked invasion of
Somalia fully attests to this fact, President Isaias elaborated that in view
of the fact that Eritrea expects nothing good from such an impotent
organization, it opted to suspend its membership.
He went on to note that democracy is a long process that involves freedom
and equality, and hence short of nurturing and inculcating this as a
culture, the mere holding of elections copied from others is not only
nominal but also leads to division and discord through instigating racial,
religious and other sub-national sentiments. "The African experience over
the past 50 years taught us this lesson," the President emphasized.
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Replying to a question regarding Eritrea's development accomplishments on
the basis of self-reliance principle, President Isaias pointed out that
self-reliance is not an ideology in itself, and that aid and handouts should
be resorted to only for a transitional purpose, for if these take root as
addiction and policy, they become both dangerous and paralyzing. He further
underscored that Eritrea's strategy for achieving food security and its
endeavors to safeguard national security have registered gratifying outcome.
Also in an interview he gave to Asharq Alawsat newspaper, the President
asserted that lying is a political culture of the CIA, and that the baseless
anti-Eritrea defamatory campaign is but a continuation of such a culture.
He further elaborated that the CIA, through disseminating unfounded and
fabricated issues, namely 'Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction" and
"there exists terrorism in Somalia," has deafened the ears of American and
world population. In this respect, President Isaias underlined that the
current lies being disseminated alleging that "there exist Iranian and
Israeli bases in Eritrea" and "Eritrea is arming Ashebab" are equally an
extension of the aforementioned practices. This political culture of the CIA
is being exposed even by senior US government officials, he added.
On Eritrea's relations with the Gulf States, the President noted that it is
special strategic ties and expressed conviction that investment in various
sectors would further strengthen the relations.
He explained that the substantial investment which the Gulf States used to
make on economic ventures based on speculation, instead of striving to
ensure food security was wrong, and that it is encouraging to witness these
countries, through drawing lesson from the current global economic crisis,
channeling their capital to African countries for the purpose of ensuring
food security which is the basic strategy of national security.
Replying to a question on what constitutes the source for the prevailing
spirit of mutual respect and co-existence in Eritrea as opposed to other
peoples in the region, President Isaias declared that such harmony is a
long-standing asset that was nurtured in the process of the liberation
struggle. "Mutual respect and co-existence is the source of strength and
stability for the Eritrean people," he asserted.
As regards anti-Eritrea rumors in the name of freedom of press, the
President indicated as the world mass media is being monopolized by few
media outlets and has thus become a mere propagator, there exists no free
press in the contemporary world. In this connection, he pointed out that the
Eritrean people possess media organs that serve as forums of expressing
their views and opinions, besides providing them with correct and objective
information as much as possible.
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