From: Yared Tesfay (ytmn2@yahoo.co.uk)
Date: Fri Jan 08 2010 - 23:24:04 EST
On Friday 8 January 2010, H.E. Tesfamicael Gerahtu, Eritrea 's
Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland gave a briefing to local
and international media, representatives of various African and
Middle Eastern Embassies, as well as civic and political
organizations. The briefing was held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in
London .
Ambassador Tesfamichael Gerahtu began by addressing the 23 December
2009 UN Security Council Resolution 1907 (2009) that called for
sanctions against Eritrea . The SC through Resolution 1907 (2009)
accused Eritrea of aiding Somali groups opposed to the Transitional
National Government of Somalia. The Council also called on Eritrea to
withdraw its forces from the Djibouti-Eritrea border and acknowledge
the conflict with Djibouti .
Ambassador Gerahtu addressed SC Resolution 1907, its provisions, its
legality as well as its sponsors and its ramifications for peace,
stability and security in the already volatile Horn region.
Ambassador Gerahtu stressed that the proposed sanctions against the
people of Eritrea were not only unjust, but also illegal. He said
that the Resolution was passed hastily without any evidence and
justification whatsoever.
The Somalia Monitoring Group had previously accused Eritrea of
"supplying arms" to those opposing the TFG. This clause was later
dropped quietly and the revised version indicts Eritrea of "providing
political, financial, and logistical support to armed groups engaged
in undermining peace reconciliation in Somalia . Although it was
presented as an African Initiative, the Ambassador said it was
masterminded by the US , with the UK ’s support. Member States
objected to the draft resolution in the early days, but in the end
succumbed to Washington ’s pressures.
Ambassador Gerahatu also spoke about the prospects for peace in the
Horn of Africa Region, Eritrea ’s nation building agenda, its social,
economic and political developments and challenges.
In answering questions about Eritrea’s alleged support of the Al
Shabbab group the Ambassador said that Eritrea did not provide any
support to the said group and stressed that Eritrea had a moral
obligation to help the Somali people and will continue to do so in
the future. He said that Eritrea believes it is best to leave the
Somali people to resolve their problems by themselves without externa
interference.
External interference has only deteriorated the situations in Somalia
and unless all Somalis gather around one table to solve their
problems there would not be a solution to the present chaos in
Somalia . The Ambassador said the Security Council has turned a blind
eye whilst the Ethiopian minority junta continues to openly supply
arms to various warring factions in Somalia and creates havoc in
Somalia .
Ambassador Gerahtu reminded the audience that Eritrea , as one of the
earliest victims of Al Qaeda and terrorism in the early 90s, has been
fighting the scourge long before September 11 and the US ’ "war of
terror". " Eritrea has neither the political will nor the financial
capability to support armed groups in Somalia ", he added.
Answering questions relating to the Djibouti-Eritrea issue, the
Ambassador said, that it was a US instigated incident designed to
create conflict between two-otherwise brotherly nations and its
Eritrea ’s desire to resolve the issue bilaterally without external
interference. Ambassador Gerahtu said that the Security Council has
refused to shoulder its moral and legal obligations in the Eritrea
Ethiopia border issue by not enforcing the final and binding Eritrea
Ethiopia Boundary Commissions (EEBC) delimitation and demarcation
decisions of 13 April 2002 and 30 November 2007 respectively. The
Security Council’s failure to enforce its own resolutions and
decisions has emboldened the minority regime in Ethiopia to continue
to militarily occupy sovereign Eritrean territories in violation of
international law and the United Nations Charter
Answering the question about how the sanctions will hamper any
developments in Eritrea, the Ambassador stressed that all development
projects will continue to be implemented and Eritrea takes this
opportunity to welcome potential investors in the various sectors,
including mining.
Full content of H.E Tesfamicael Gerahtu’s briefing is attached.
Embassy Media
EMWG
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