From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Mar 24 2010 - 07:45:11 EST
Djibouti's Foreign Minister says Dispute with Libya Over
24/03/2010
By Khaled Mahmoud
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf
has stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh
will participate in the upcoming Arab summit scheduled for end of March in
Libya.
In a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat the Foreign Minister called on
the Arab summit to back Djibouti's position against Eritrea, and announced
the end of the dispute with Libya which arose as a result of the latter's
opposition to imposing sanctions on Asmara over its aggressive policy toward
Djibouti and Somalia.
In December of last year, Djibouti's foreign minister told Asharq Al-Awsat
that his country would not participate in the Arab summit because of what he
regarded as Libya's attempt to undermine the Arab higher interests after
Libya, in its capacity as the only Arab member of the UN Security Council,
refused to approve the UNSC resolution imposing political and economic
sanctions on Eritrea because of its interference in the domestic affairs of
neighboring Somalia.
However, Youssouf said that the dispute with Libya is over after Libyan
Foreign Minister Musa Kusa's visit to Djibouti and after "the explanation he
made to us, we saw that it is in the interest of all parties to bypass this
dispute and participate in the summit in solidarity with Libya and to
contribute, as usual, to joint Arab action."
Djibouti's foreign minister pointed out that his country has no sensitivity
over Libya's relations with Eritrea against the background of the recent
visit by Eritrean President Assias Afeworki to Libya and his meeting with
Libyan leader Col Muammar al-Gaddafi. He said: "We have no problem with
Libya's relations with Eritrea; what is at issue for us is that Eritrea is
in occupation of part of our territories and we have UN Security Council
Resolution 1907. All that we seek is to have this resolution implemented and
secure Eritrea's withdrawal of its forces from our territory."
Djibouti's foreign minister added: "Right from the beginning, we called and
still call and appeal to Eritrea to start a dialogue with us; the door for
dialogue is still open provided that Eritrea withdraws its forces from our
territory and solve the dispute through arbitration. Once that issue is
solved we have no problems with Eritrea."
Asked if there is a Libyan mediation effort to resolve the dispute with
Eritrea, Djibouti's foreign minister said: "As yet, we have not been
notified of any attempt at mediation, but if there is any Arab mediation
effort to solve the dispute, we have no objection. However, any dialogue or
negotiations should begin with withdrawing the Eritrean forces from our
territories. For our part, we withdrew our forces a year and a half ago. We
welcome any Arab or non-Arab intercession to solve the problem with
Eritrea."
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