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| Africa Horn |
| UN sanctions Eritrea for aiding Somali rebels |
| 2009-12-24 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The United Nations Security Council slapped Wednesday an arms embargo on Eritrea and imposed targeted sanctions on its leaders for allegedly aiding Somali rebels and threatening neighboring Djibouti. The 15-member body voted overwhelmingly to pass a Ugandan-drafted resolution to ban weapons sales to and from Eritrea and impose travel restrictions on, and freeze the assets of, the country's political and military leadership. Libya, the lone Arab member of the council and the current chair of the pan-continental African Union (AU) bloc, is the only country that voted against the resolution. The draft demands that Asmara "cease all efforts to destabilize or overthrow, directly or indirectly" the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia. It urges member states to conduct inspections on their territory, including seaports and airports, of "all cargo to and from Somalia and Eritrea" if there is reasonable grounds to believe it contains banned weapons or related material. And it presses Eritrea to withdraw troops immediately from disputed territories along its frontier with Djibouti and engage in diplomatic efforts leading to "a mutually acceptable" settlement of their long-running border dispute. The text further calls on all member states, in particular Eritrea, to stop "arming, training and equipping armed groups (including hardline Islamic militants in Somalia) that aim to destabilize the region or incite violence and civil strife in Djibouti." It directs U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to report within 180 days on Asmara's compliance with the provisions of the resolution. In a letter sent this month to Security Council chair and Burkina Faso counterpart Michel Kafando, Eritrea's U.N. ambassador Araya Desta urged all members, "to use their influence to ensure the rejection of this draft resolution in its entirety." He accused Washington of being, "the main architect of this resolution," which he said, "has no factual or legal justifications. "The U.N. Security Council cannot penalize Eritrea for its views simply because (Asmara) does not toe or conform to Washington's policy choices and preferences," Desta charged. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Smooth move, idiots. It's only about 10 years too late. Eritrea has been stirring every "armed conflict" in East Africa since its independence from Ethiopia, and it has long fingers in Yemen. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-12-24 14:04 |