From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Aug 07 2009 - 07:43:42 EDT
Eritrea denies sending weapons to Somali militants
August 09, 2009
By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY (AP) – 1 hour ago
NAIROBI, Kenya — Eritrea brushed off a U.S threat of sanctions Friday and
said Washington is exacerbating the conflict in neighboring Somalia by
providing the country's government with tons of weapons and training.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday accused Eritrea,
a tiny nation on the Red Sea, of aiding a Somali extremist group she says is
trying to launch worldwide terrorist attacks from Somalia.
"That's totally untrue, baseless," Eritrea's information minister, Ali Abdu,
told The Associated Press when asked if his country is arming Somalia's
al-Shabab insurgent group, which has alleged ties to al-Qaida.
Eritrea has repeatedly denied it is supporting extremists in Somalia despite
reports from U.N. investigators that document such arms shipments. But it
has made clear its disdain for Somalia's transitional government, which is
backed by the United Nations, the United States, the African Union and
Eritrea's longtime enemy — Ethiopia.
Many experts believe Eritrea and Ethiopia are fighting a proxy war in
Somalia, with Eritrea arming rebels who want to impose a strict version of
sharia law across the country. Eritrea and Ethiopia have been feuding over
their border since Eritrea gained independence in 1993 after a 30-year
guerrilla war.
Clinton warned Eritrea that it would face penalties if it continues to
supply the group with arms and funding.
"It is long past time for Eritrea to cease and desist its support for
al-Shabab," she said Thursday in Kenya, during a seven-nation tour of Africa
this week. "We are making it very clear that their actions are unacceptable.
We intend to take action if they do not cease." She did not specify what
kind of sanctions the administration might impose.
She also said the Obama administration would boost military supplies and
other aid to the Somali government and an African peacekeeping force
supporting it. Although Clinton did not discuss the new assistance, other
U.S. officials have said the administration plans to double an initial 40
tons of arms sent to Somalia through other African nations.
Abdu denounced the program and said Somalis should "decide their own destiny
and future."
"You can't solve the Somali issue by sending weapons, and I'm sure the 40
tons of weapons will produce only hatred," Abdu said in a telephone
interview from Asmara, the Eritrean capital.
U.S. involvement in Somalia is a sensitive subject because of the 1992-94
American military intervention that began as a humanitarian mission to
deliver aid supplies to Somalia.
That ended in a humiliating withdrawal months after the 1993 "Black Hawk
Down" incident in which two U.S. helicopters were downed and 18 servicemen
killed.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when warlords
overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each
other, plunging the country into chaos and anarchy.
Somali insurgents control much of Somalia, with rebel fighters operating
openly in the capital in their quest to implement a strict form of Islam in
the country.
Government troops and African Union peacekeepers only hold a few blocks of
Mogadishu, but they still control key government buildings as well as the
port and airport, allowing them to receive arms shipments.
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