Eritrea Rejects Museveni’s Plea

Museveni and Afeworki in Massawa Port where they met on Monday to try to hammer out a deal on Somalia

By Vision Reporter and Agencies

Asmara , April 3, 2007 – Eritrea yesterday said it had urged Uganda to pull out of Somalia after taking the “hasty step” of sending peace-keepers to the anarchic nation where the situation was deteriorating.

During a face-to-face meeting at Massawa port, the Eritrean government said President Isaias Afeworki had told his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni he was making an error.

“President Isaias went on to say that Uganda needs to take corrective measures regarding the hasty step it took in sending troops to Somalia,” a statement on the Eritrean government website said.

According to the statement, Eritrean and Ugandan leaders agreed during the meeting that the situation in Somalia was “escalating from bad to worse” and external forces in Somalia were “complicating the issue.”

“The two leaders discussed that the interference of external forces in Somalia is complicating the issue and that in order for peace to prevail in the country there should be a political process,” the state website added.

“They further discussed that the armed force deployed in Somalia is not only taking sides rather than being a peace-keeping force but also defending and protecting the interest of some quarters.”

Discussions also focused on “the need to let the Somali people decide their own affairs” and “the withdrawal of foreign forces from Somali territory, as well as (how to) uphold Somalia’s unity and territorial integrity,” according to the Eritrean Information ministry.

“The President indicated that, with a view to advising the Ugandan government against taking a wrong step regarding the issue and avoiding falling into such a trap,” it added.

One Ugandan peace-keeper was killed last weekend and five wounded when a mortar hit them while they were guarding the presidential palace, Villa Somalia.

Eritrea has been accused of channeling weapons and supplies to the insurgents in Mogadishu, who are a mixture of Islamist and clan militia. Asmara vehemently denies that.

In an editorial on their website, Eritrea launches a scathing attack on Ethiopia, accusing it of invading Somalia “by grossly undermining the country’s sovereignty and violating international laws and principles.”

“It had been clear from the beginning that Ethiopia’s interference in Somalia would result in more chaos and disruption and plunge the TPLF (Eritrean) army into a deep quagmire,” the editorial warns.

“It is impossible to imagine that an alien peace-keeping mission would install peace rather than being a target itself. Peace can’t be won through outside intervention and invasion.”

Meanwhile, a local human rights group has said last week’s battles in Mogadishu, pitting Ethiopian and Somali troops against insurgents, killed 381 civilians and wounded another 565.

The toll, from the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization, was the first comprehensive count of casualties from what aid agencies are calling the worst fighting in the Somali capital for 15 years.

Elman chairman Sudan Ali Ahmed told Reuters the toll would rise. “There are still some wounded as well as dead bodies stuck in their houses where no one can go,” he said.

Besides the civilian casualties, scores of fighters died. Reporters have seen several dozen bodies of soldiers, while Ethiopia says 200 insurgents were killed in the onslaught against rebel strongholds in residential areas.

The ceasefire in Mogadishu held for a second day yesterday as Somali clan elders prepared to meet Ethiopian commanders.

Diplomats from the United States, Europe and Africa were also due to meet in Cairo under the auspices of the International Contact Group on Somalia to try to put pressure on the warring parties to negotiate and reconcile.

Almost 100,000 people have fled the city of 1 million since February, according to the UN. Many set off on long and dangerous journeys through areas controlled by rival clans rather than stay in the Mogadishu.

William Spindler, of the UN refugee agency, said that residents were faced with four-hour queues to leave the city.

Many have moved to the Lower Shabelle region around Mogadishu, he added, but at least 3,000 arrived in the Somaliland region, some 700km to the north.

Poor security is hampering efforts to get help to the refugees.

“Our Somali staff in Mogadishu are trying to make their way to areas where people have fled. But the problem is that the security situation is making it difficult for humanitarian organizations to reach displaced people,” said Spindler. “They have little or no access to water, food, medicines or sanitation.”

Source: The New Vision