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| Africa Horn | ||
| UN action shameful, says Eritrea | ||
| 2009-12-26 | ||
Eritrea has labelled UN sanctions imposed on Wednesday as shameful, and denied allegations that it arms Islamist militants in Somalia. Eritrea's UK ambassador Tesfamichael Gerahtu told the BBC that the sanctions were illegal and would only worsen the problems in the Horn of Africa.
But Mr Tesfamichael said the accusations made by the country's critics were inconsistent. "Originally it was said we had soldiers and then later came military support and now all of a sudden after certain discussions and opposition they started to talk about political, military and logistical support," he told the BBC's World Today programme. "Now we are 100% sure that we have never, never, never supplied military equipment or otherwise to the extremists in Somalia." Eritrea's neighbouring countries and regional blocs including the African Union had been lobbying for sanctions for most of the year. The resolution demands that the country stops "arming, training and equipping armed groups and their members, including al-Shabab, that aim to destabilise the region". As a result of the Security Council vote, Eritrea becomes the first new country to be subjected to UN sanctions since they were imposed on Iran in 2006.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 UN Fixed. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-12-26 19:23 |
| #2 Now we are 100% sure that we have never, never, never supplied military equipment or otherwise to the extremists in Somalia."" Translation: Other did the supplying. Eritrea merely provided the facilities, labor and transport. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-12-26 11:15 |
| #1 Cookies aren't shameful |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-12-26 10:19 |