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By Jeremy
Clarke and Jack Kimball
ASMARA, September 26, 2009 – Eritrea said on Friday the hunting of al
Qaeda suspects in Somalia by U.S. and Ethiopian forces had crippled
peace efforts in the Horn of African nation.
Washington and the United Nations accuse the Red Sea state of sending
arms and other support to Somali insurgents battling the country's
U.N.-backed government -- something Asmara denies.
"We don't see eye to eye with Washington and some countries in the
region, especially Ethiopia, on the solution to the problem (in
Somalia)," Yemane Ghebremeskel, director of the Eritrean president's
office, told Reuters in an interview.
"(Their focus on terrorism) is single-minded, it is exaggerated, it is
overblown. It overshadows all other aspects and issues," he said.
Some analysts and security agencies fear Somalia -- with its long
coastline and lack of effective government -- has become a safe haven
for militants, including foreign jihadists, who use it to plot attacks
in the region and beyond.
U.S. special forces killed one of Africa's most-wanted al Qaeda suspects
in rebel-held southern Somalia last week, risking further inflaming
anti-Western sentiment in the nation.
Somalia has been mired in civil strife since warlords toppled dictator
Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Fighting has killed at least 18,000
civilians since the start of 2007.
Yemane urged Washington and its allies to push for a more inclusive
peace process, including talks with al Shabaab rebels who the United
States says are al Qaeda's proxies in Somalia.
"Why should others categorize the political groups in Somalia, ostracise
some and legitimize others? Why not facilitate a process of
reconciliation?" he said.
A U.N. monitoring body has accused Asmara, Addis Ababa, Washington and
some Gulf Arab states of violating a 1992 arms embargo on Somalia. The
African Union has called on the United Nations to slap sanctions on
Eritrea for its role in Somalia.
Yemane accused the body of singling out Eritrea.
"All those accusations (against other countries) have been shelved with
no reason, and they're focusing on Eritrea."
The top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, fingered Eritrea in
June for stoking hostilities in Somalia.
The tranquil Eritrean capital has been home to many Somali dissidents
since Asmara's arch-foe Ethiopia sent war planes and thousands of
soldiers to crush a Islamic Courts group that controlled the capital
Mogadishu and much of the south in 2006.
Some analysts accuse Eritrea and Ethiopia of using Somalia as a proxy
war to fight out their dispute over a shared frontier. Asmara and Addis
Ababa fought a 1998-2000 border war that killed more than 70,000 people.
Source: Reuters, Sept 25, 2009
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