From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Mar 05 2010 - 07:02:38 EST
Eritrea seeks Nigeria's help over UN sanctions
>From Oghogho Obayuwana, Abuja
Friday, March 05, 2010
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 call 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.
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