From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Jul 08 2010 - 08:47:16 EDT
Eritrean Official Warns More Peacekeeping Troops in Somalia Will Lead to
Chaos
Peter Clottey 07 July 2010
A senior official with Eritrea's government told VOA a decision by the Heads
of State and Government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
(IGAD), a regional bloc to increase peacekeeping troop levels in Somalia,
will plunge that country into chaos.
Information Minister Ali Abdu said the main cause of the growing insecurity
problem, as well as the refusal of insurgents to recognize Somalia's
Transitional Federal Government, can be attributed to foreign interference
or intervention.
"The external intervention, be it in the name of peacekeeping, be it in the
name of humanitarian mission, be it in the name of combating terrorism, are
the main cause of this destructive conflict in Somalia. Somalia remains
today fragmented and the battleground of all kinds of conflict because of
external intervention mainly from Ethiopia for its intermittent military
invasion in Somalia," he said.
Minister Abdu's pronouncements follow a decision by IGAD to work closely
with the African Union as well as the U.N. Security Council to raise
peacekeeping troop levels in Somalia by 2,000.
Backed by the United Nations, the African Union deploys a peacekeeping
mission to Somalia (AMISOM) with only Burundi and Uganda contributing troops
to help Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
After a two-day meeting that ended Monday in Ethiopia's capital, Addis
Ababa, IGAD released a statement saying, "The summit regrets that the
approved level of AMISOM troops has not been achieved thus far, and decides
to deploy 2,000 peacekeepers under AMISOM to Somalia immediately."
Critics say Eritrea is opposing the troop level increase because of its
alleged logistical and financial support to Hizbul-Islam, a hard-line Somali
insurgent group.
But, Information Minister Abdu said Asmara has nothing to do with the
growing insecurity problems in Somalia.
"Eritrea has been saying consistently that the only way out to Somalia
[problems] is to let the Somalis do their own internal political process.
And, that is what exactly [we] were doing in 2006 when the Ethiopians
invaded Somalia and, since that time, we've been saying this is not the
solution. You can't impose and make military intervention," Abdu said.
He maintained that Somalis have the "capability and the know-how" to find
lasting solutions to their own problems devoid of direct or indirect foreign
interference, intervention, or influence.
Last year, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Eritrea for supporting
Somali insurgents, including al-Shabab, who have vowed to overthrow the
Somali administration to fully implement the strictest form of the Sharia
Law, a charge Asmara denies.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----