From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Feb 22 2010 - 08:21:13 EST
U.S. condemns Eritrea for "destabilizing" role
Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:53am GMT
* Says Eritrea threatens international security
* Pro-Eritrea protests held in Western capitals
By Jeremy Clarke
ASMARA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The United States accused Eritrea on Monday of
working to destabilise the Horn of Africa region and urged President Isaias
Afwerki to bring a halt to what it called a threat to international peace.
The statement released to Reuters by the U.S. Embassy in the Eritrean
capital came on the same day that Eritreans abroad protested against United
Nations sanctions imposed on their country and that they say were organised
by the United States.
The U.N. Security Council, which last December imposed the sanctions,
accuses Asmara of providing funds and weapons to Islamist insurgents in
Somalia where 21,000 people have been killed in violence since the beginning
of 2007.
Aimed at the country's leaders, the sanctions include an arms embargo, a
freeze on assets and travel bans on individuals and firms to be designated
by a sanctions committee.
"The United States calls on President Isaias to immediately end Eritrea's
destabilizing activities in the Horn of Africa," the U.S. Embassy said in
its statement.
"Eritrea's actions in Somalia and Djibouti threaten international peace and
security and contribute to a dire humanitarian crisis."
Relations between Eritrea and neighbouring Djibouti remain hostile. In June
2008 a dozen Djiboutian soldiers were killed in a clash, and last October
Djibouti accused Eritrea of training militias to carry out sabotage in its
territory.
Eritrean officials deny all accusations relating to Somalia and Djibouti and
have called on the U.N. to produce evidence and offer an independent
platform on which to respond. They say that without this the sanctions are
illegitimate and illegal.
Asmara also accuses the international community of a double standard,
pointing out that Somalia is rife with U.S. munitions that arrive by the
planeload.
"U.N. Sanction 1907 is an African-led initiative and the United States
commends the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority on Development,"
the U.S. embassy said. "The United States supports the adoption of this
important resolution."
DEMONSTRATIONS
Pro-Eritrean supporters gathered in some Western capitals to protest the
U.N. resolution, which they say is the latest insult in a long history of
western persecution.
Eritrea's state-run media is running a sustained campaign charging the
United States with masterminding the U.N. sanctions imposed on it and says
Washington wants to control the whole Horn of Africa region.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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