July 16,
2012
No Evidence of Eritrean Support in Somalia,
UN Monitoring Group Admits
Finally, the Somalia and Eritrean Monitoring Group has admitted that there
is no evidence of Eritrean support in Somalia.
In its latest report, leaked to Reuters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before
Eritrea had a chance to see it, as indicated in its July 6 press release, the
group said, it "has found no evidence to substantiate allegations that Eritrea
supplied Al-Shabaab with arms and ammunition by air in October and November
2011." But it was this very accusation that was used to justify Resolution 2023
approved a month later, in December 2011. The Monitoring Group kept quite with
this knowledge until the new sanctions were passed. It knows well Eritrea had
no role whatsoever in the arming of the Somali group. History will also show that there was no
evidence in 2010, 2008 or 2006 either.
That the Monitoring group handed the report to the media before the nation
which is its primary target, Eritrea, was given a copy, is part of a pattern of
excessive bias it has been showing since its inception seven years ago.
Its charges against this young nation have
been outright fabrications by Eritrea's archenemy, Ethiopia, which this
monitoring group has been trying to legitimize, with the help of the Western
media.
Reuters tried to inject its own dose of bias to the principal conclusion
of the report by saying that "Eritrea reduces support for al Shabaab" ignoring
the exonerating conclusion that there was no evidence. Period!
Reuters said, "A report to the
Council, seen by Reuters, that it had found no evidence of direct Eritrean
support for al Shabaab in the last year." If there was "no evidence of
direct Eritrean support" any honest report would have tried to reflect that.
But, apparently, that was not the reason Reuters and its local stringers in
Addis were given an advance copy the report.
Received on Mon Jul 16 2012 - 14:05:55 EDT
