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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Jun 16 2011 - 15:43:14 EDT
Eritrea slams Ethiopia for AU summit plot allegations
Thu Jun 16, 2011 4:47pm GMT
(Refiles to fix headline)
* Alleged OLF rebels were jailed earlier in June
* Countries at odds over disputed border
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA, June 16 (Reuters) - Eritrea has rejected Ethiopian claims it
trained the rebels who plotted to carry out bombings during an African Union
summit in Addis Ababa in February.
An Ethiopian court earlier in June sentenced four suspects to life in
prison, six to 25 years, one to 14 and three to nine years in jail,
describing them as Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels who planned to strike
a hotel where several heads of state were staying, as well as an open market
in the capital.
Addis Ababa says its arch foe trained the rebels and that the explosives
they intended to use had been smuggled through the Red Sea state.
"Pointing a finger to the people and government of Eritrea has no legal
basis whatsoever," said a foreign ministry statement seen by Reuters on
Thursday.
"Uttering nonsensical remarks such as 'we have evidence', 'intelligence data
is in our possession,' 'we have the testimony of detained individuals'
cannot embellish the authors of lies."
Ethiopia routinely accuses Asmara of supporting rebel groups, and declared
in April it would support Eritrean guerrillas fighting to overthrow
President Isaias Afewerki.
Both sides have often traded tough rhetoric since their 1998-2000 border
war, which killed around 80,000 people and left the frontier demarcation
unresolved.
Asmara also blasted the United States, which it accuses of siding with
Ethiopia, Washington's main Horn of Africa ally.
"The misguided policies and actions of the U.S. administration also
aggravated this state of affairs, besides being the cause of instability,
crises and suffering in the Horn of Africa," it said.
Eritrea was part of Ethiopia until 1991, the culmination of a 30-year
secession war by rebels under Isaias.
(Editing by Richard Lough and Sonya Hepinstall)
(For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues,
visit: <http://af.reuters.com> af.reuters.com)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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