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NAIROBI,
Kenya, August 8, 2009 – Eritrea brushed off a U.S threat of sanctions
Friday and said Washington is exacerbating the conflict in neighboring
Somalia by providing the country's government with tons of weapons and
training.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday accused
Eritrea, a tiny nation on the Red Sea, of aiding a Somali extremist
group she says is trying to launch worldwide terrorist attacks from
Somalia.
"That's totally untrue, baseless," Eritrea's information minister, Ali
Abdu, told The Associated Press when asked if his country is arming
Somalia's al-Shabab insurgent group, which has alleged ties to al-Qaida.
Eritrea has repeatedly denied it is supporting extremists in Somalia
despite reports from U.N. investigators that document such arms
shipments. But it has made clear its disdain for Somalia's transitional
government, which is backed by the United Nations, the United States,
the African Union and Eritrea's longtime enemy - Ethiopia.
Many experts believe Eritrea and Ethiopia are fighting a proxy war in
Somalia, with Eritrea arming rebels who want to impose a strict version
of sharia law across the country. Eritrea and Ethiopia have been feuding
over their border since Eritrea gained independence in 1993 after a
30-year guerrilla war.
Clinton warned Eritrea that it would face penalties if it continues to
supply the group with arms and funding.
"It is long past time for Eritrea to cease and desist its support for
al-Shabab," she said Thursday in Kenya, during a seven-nation tour of
Africa this week. "We are making it very clear that their actions are
unacceptable. We intend to take action if they do not cease." She did
not specify what kind of sanctions the administration might impose.
She also said the Obama administration would boost military supplies and
other aid to the Somali government and an African peacekeeping force
supporting it. Although Clinton did not discuss the new assistance,
other U.S. officials have said the administration plans to double an
initial 40 tons of arms sent to Somalia through other African nations.
Abdu denounced the program and said Somalis should "decide their own
destiny and future."
"You can't solve the Somali issue by sending weapons, and I'm sure the
40 tons of weapons will produce only hatred," Abdu said in a telephone
interview from Asmara, the Eritrean capital.
U.S. involvement in Somalia is a sensitive subject because of the
1992-94 American military intervention that began as a humanitarian
mission to deliver aid supplies to Somalia.
That ended in a humiliating withdrawal months after the 1993 "Black Hawk
Down" incident in which two U.S. helicopters were downed and 18
servicemen killed.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when warlords
overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each
other, plunging the country into chaos and anarchy.
Somali insurgents control much of Somalia, with rebel fighters operating
openly in the capital in their quest to implement a strict form of Islam
in the country.
Government troops and African Union peacekeepers only hold a few blocks
of Mogadishu, but they still control key government buildings as well as
the port and airport, allowing them to receive arms shipments.
Source: The Associated Press, August 7, 2009
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