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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Aug 19 2011 - 08:20:44 EDT
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE77I01D20110819?sp=true Eritrean
leader denies support for al Shabaab
Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:54am GMT
By Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA (Reuters) - Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki, accused by the West
of supporting Somalia's Islamist rebellion, denied on Thursday that his
country backed the al Qaeda-affiliated group which has been waging a
four-year insurgency in Somalia.
The diplomatically isolated president, speaking in the Ugandan capital at
the end of a three-day trip, denied accusations contained in a U.N. report
that said Eritrea was bankrolling al Shabaab.
His visit to Uganda has raised eyebrows among regional observers, especially
because the al Shabaab rebels his government is accused of financing killed
79 people in twin bombings in Kampala last year.
"These accusations are built on assumptions, innuendos, guesses about this
matter.," Isaias said in a joint news conference with his Ugandan
counterpart Yoweri Museveni, when asked about his country's support for al
Shabaab.
"Shabaab is serving the interests of those who want to maintain the
disintegration of Somalia and give al Shabaab an opportunity to flourish and
broaden its influence in Somalia," said Isaias, who was on his first visit
to the region in four years.
Uganda provides the bulk of African Union peacekeepers for the Somali
capital Mogadishu, which has witnessed daily battles for the last four years
before al Shabaab withdrew earlier this month. A famine declared in parts of
the country has also exacerbated the country's anarchic, desperate
situation.
Museveni, who observers say hosted Isaias to showcase his role in the fight
against militancy and as a peace-seeking politician, voiced support for the
isolated Eritrean leader.
"The bombing here was done by al Shabaab but the issue here is that al
Shabaab is not supported by Eritrea, that's what Isaias told me and I accept
it because he's an honorable comrade, he's not somebody who has walked out
of the slums."
FABRICATIONS AND LIES
The U.N. has imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea, as well as a travel ban and
asset freezes on political and military leaders who it says are violating an
arms embargo on Somalia.
A U.N. report said in late July that Eritrea was bankrolling al Shabaab,
which Asmara said was "ridiculous and absurd". The report also said Eritrea
was behind a plot to attack an African Union summit in Ethiopia in January.
"We don't have a tradition of hijackings, kidnappings, (or) bombings in our
history ... It's cowardly and it's not part of our history... Now to simply
fabricate and accumulate these lies and disseminate them to create an aura
of suspicion about this or that on our credibility doesn't work," Isaias
said.
As al Shabaab loses some of its foothold in Somalia, Isaias may be trying to
mend its international relations, analysts have said.
The secretive Red Sea state rejoined the East African bloc IGAD last month,
four years after it walked out on the body in protest at arch-foe Ethiopia
entering Somalia to oust an Islamist administration.
Ethiopia has said the visit was a ploy to avert more sanctions. At the
United Nations, Eritrea accused Ethiopia of a "frenzied campaign" to impose
new U.N. Security Council sanctions in a bid to topple the Eritrean
government and secure access to the sea.
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