ADDIS ABABA Dec 6 (Reuters) - Eritrea on Tuesday blamed the United States
for expanded U.N. sanctions against the Red Sea state for supporting
Islamist militants and said the new punitive measures would further
destabilise the chaotic Horn of Africa.
The council resolution - which won 13 votes in favor, none against and two
abstentions - was diluted from earlier drafts that sought to ban investment
in Eritrea's mining industry and outlaw imports of its minerals.
Asmara denies aiding al Shabaab or any other armed group in Somalia and
denounced the sanctions as "illegal" and "unjust".
"The sanctions were the result of undisguised United States hostility
towards Eritrea," its foreign ministry said in a statement. "It was an
attempt by the U.S. administration to scapegoat Eritrea for its faulty and
failed policies in the Horn of Africa."
The final version, which expands sanctions two years ago that included an
arms embargo, requires countries to make sure companies mining in Eritrea
exercise "vigilance" to ensure funds from the sector are not used to
destabilise the region.
Eritrea is seen to be on the brink of a minerals boom that could revive its
ailing economy.
The resolution also calls on states to ensure Eritrea ceases using
extortion, threats of violence and fraud to collect a tax on remittances.
Money sent back from its large diaspora in the West and Middle East is its
biggest source of foreign exchange.
Asmara blamed the United States for championing the vote, which as vocally
backed by Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, and has accused
Washington of obstructing President Isaias Afewerki's attempt to address the
council.
It accuses Washington of failing to force arch-foe Ethiopia -- seen by
Washington and others as a bulwark against hardline Islam in the region --
into handing over disputed territory that was awarded to Asmara by a U.N.
commission following a border dispute a decade ago. (Editing by Richard
Lough and Ben Harding)
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Received on Tue Dec 06 2011 - 23:21:29 EST