A Week in the Horn of Africa

18 August 2007

ASMARA, Eritrea - Eritrea's information minister on Saturday mocked comments by a senior US adminstration official, who said Washington might add the country to its list of states supporting terrorism.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said Friday the United States was considering adding Eritrea to its list of rogue states, which includes countries such as Iran, Syria, North Korea and Cuba.
But Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu dismissed the remarks.
"We would like to thank Mrs Jendayi Frazer for exposing herself and her ill wishes towards the Eritrean people," he told AFP in Asmara.
Frazer said the United States agreed with a recent report by UN experts linking Eritrea -- one of the poorest countries in the world -- to weapons and cash for militants in Somalia.
An Islamist militia, which briefly controlled large parts of Somalia, was defeated earlier this year by Ethiopian troops backing Somali goverment forces.
Insurgents have nevertheless continued to carry out daily guerrilla-style attacks since.
Eritrea also rubbished claims by Addis Ababa that it had been seeking to destabilise its neighbour by plotting attacks against government targets with Ethiopia-based rebels.
A statement issued Friday by Eritrea's foreign ministry dismissed the claims as "ridiculous accusations" and "preposterous allegations".
The statement in turn accused Ethipia and Washington of backing an Islamist insurgency on its soil.
"Ethiopia's open support to an assortment of subversive groups, including the so-called Eritrean Jihadist groups, is a matter of record," it said.
"It is unfortunate that the US administration, which has all along encouraged and supported Ethiopia in its unlawful acts against a sovereign UN member state, has joined the chorus to unleash what is evidently a concerted and synchronized smear campaign against Eritrea."
Eritrea was an "epicentre of peaceful dialogue", said the statement, citing efforts to broker peace deals in Sudan.
For its part, Ethiopia advised the US administration to follow through and include Eritrea on its blacklist.
"Their consideration is long overdue, the Eritrean government has been undertaking terror activities for a long time," said Bereket Simon, senior adviser to President Meles Zenawi.
"They should take measures in order to stop such acts," he told AFP, in reference to Asmara's alleged support of Islamist rebels in Somalia and Ethiopia.
International concern is also growing at an unresolved border dispute with Ethiopia following their 1998 to 2000 frontier war.
Asmara claimed Addis Ababa was alleging Eritrean support to rebels to avoid the implementing a UN-appointed border commission ruling, which grants a key town to Eritrea but has been so far ignored by Ethiopia.
"Ethiopia's real intention is to scuttle the demarcation process by any means," the Eritrean foreign ministry statement added.