From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Fri Mar 05 2010 - 05:13:26 EST
Friday, March 05, 2010
Eritrea seeks Nigeria's help over UN sanctions
>From Oghogho Obayuwana, Abuja
THE state of Eritrea is seeking Nigeria's intervention in the wake of
the imposition of sanctions on it by the United Nations (UN).
Nigeria assumed a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) in January this year.
Describing the set of sanctions as a travesty of justice, Eritrea's
Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohammed Ali Omaro said yesterday at a briefing
in Abuja that the eastern African country wants Nigeria "as an African
leader and our voice at the UN Security Council to play its role as an
uninfluenced arbiter in the gang-up against another progressive African
country by certain powers that go everywhere and create the problem only
to turn around and start to want to solve it. We believe that this is
the time to say no to neo-colonialism..."
The UN had in December last year imposed a set of sanctions on Eritrea
over its perceived role in Somalia and refusal to withdraw troops
following a dispute with neighbouring Djibouti. The sanctions stipulate
arms embargo, travel restrictions and asset freezes.
Flanked by senior embassy officials, the envoy denied the allegations
that led to the sanctions.
He said: "The one on financial support of the TFG (Transitional Federal
Government of Somali), it is equally tenuous. The people and government
of Eritrea are struggling to achieve sustainable socio-economic
development through self-reliance, hence do not have the financial
ability to bankroll armed groups in Somalia... State of Eritrea does not
have any border juncture with Somalia. These accusations are further
preposterous in the light of large naval and air force presence in the
Red Sea -The French and the U.S. bases in Djibouti - and naval forces
roaming the Indian Ocean, adjacent to Somalia, under the pretext of
fighting piracy. How can Eritrea evade all these military bases and
sophisticated surveillance system to deliver arms to Somali armed
groups? It is very ridiculous..."
He said further: "Within the African Union (AU) and African states,
there is now zero tolerance of intimidation tactics employed by the
powerful countries over the weak, because of their influence in the
United Nations. Nigeria is now a non-permanent member of the Security
Council. It represents Africa. Since Eritrea is an African state and a
member of the AU, it looks towards Nigeria to help defend the rights of
Eritrea where they have been systematically violated... All we want is
that we be given a fair chance to defend our nation in the face of those
false accusations. What we want is for Nigeria as an African country to
play its role."
The Eritrean envoy added that: " Eritrea has always supported Nigeria
when it comes to elections at international organisations. It is our
official policy, we are not saying this for payback, but even in sports,
our support is always lining up behind Nigeria, so naturally, when we
feel victimised now, we cry to the big brother."
According to Omaro, "All this scenario was fabricated by the United
States (U.S.) because it wants to cover up for its failure or failure of
its policies in the horn of Africa. It starts by creating crisis and
when it gets out of hand, it then turns around to manage it and blame
everybody else. Is this the way to run foreign policy with a humane
face? It is compounding the problem of Africa where you now isolate
Eritrea and to spoil its image or harm it economically. We consider this
a means of blackmail but since we are not a recipient of grant funding,
none of our developmental projects will be affected... "
Since the independence of Eritrea in 1993 after a referendum that
followed its liberation in 1991, the only Nigerian head of state that
has visited Eritrea, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was in that country in
October 2002. On that occasion, four agreements between the two
countries were signed in the areas of economic co-operation and
partnership, joint commission, Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA)
as well as on the Technical Aids Corps (TAC) programme.
Omaro, however, lamented what he called the slow pace of implementation
of the pacts. It is, however, expected that with the visit to Nigeria
last month by the country's Foreign Minister Oman Saleh, both nations
are moving faster towards the implementation of the agreements.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article04/indexn2_html?pdate=050310
<http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article04/indexn2_html?pdate=050310
&ptitle=Eritrea%20seeks%20Nigeria's%20help%20over%20UN%20sanctions>
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