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| Africa Horn |
| Eritrea wants peaceful Somalia, denies meddling |
| 2009-08-05 |
| [Mail and Globe] Eritrea wants a peaceful and united Somalia and believes now is the best time in nearly two decades to foster genuine political dialogue involving all in the Horn of African nation, Eritrea's information minister says. Washington's new top diplomat for Africa has been seeking to engage with Eritrea, and met the country's foreign minister in Libya last month, but has also blamed Asmara for fuelling conflict that has plagued Somalia since 1992. Eritrea has repeatedly denied it is helping arm al-Shabaab insurgents fighting Somalia's latest transition government and bristles at calls for United Nations sanctions against the small nation that borders Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan. "I don't think that in this 21st century the philosophy of carrot and stick will work," Information Minister Ali Abdu told Reuters, when asked what his message to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be during her visit to Africa this week. "In this 21st century, people could have differences but they can agree to disagree and respect each other, instead of using the carrot and stick," he said in a telephone interview. Eritrea's arch-foe in Horn of Africa is Ethiopia -- Washington's main ally in the region. Ali said Ethiopia, rather than Eritrea, should be sanctioned for meddling in Somalia. UN and US accusations against Asmara originated from retrograde "interest groups", and probably did not reflect Obama administration policy, he said. The two nations are embroiled in a border dispute that has been rumbling since Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s after a 30-year war. Some analysts and diplomats believe Eritrea and Ethiopia are fighting a proxy war in Somalia -- with Asmara backing rebels who want to impose their own harsh version of sharia law and Addis Ababa supporting pro-government militia. |
| Posted by:Fred |