Eritrea denies fanning Ethiopia unrest
Nov 16, 2005 (ASMARA) — Eritrea on Wednesday denied a charge it fuelled street violence that rocked Ethiopia early this month, claiming at least 48 lives, by supporting rebels who want to overthrow the Addis Ababa government.
“We deny this accusation,” Eritrea’s Information Minister Ali Abdu told AFP. “This statement approved by a so-called parliament emanates from a schizophrenic state of mind.”
Ethiopian federal police chief Workneh Gebeyhu on Monday told parliament that Asmara backed the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) based in southern Ethiopia to foment the deadly skirmishes.
Ali, however, confirmed that Asmara “only gives the OLF political support,” and explained that the insurgents had an office in Asmara which Ethiopia was aware of.
“Eritrea’s foreign policy is one of peace and co-existence in harmony, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries,” Ali claimed.
Violence erupted in the Ethiopian capital on November 1 and spread to regional towns after the main opposition party, the Coalition of Unity and Democracy, called on the people to protest the alleged fraud in the May elections.
The OLF was part of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front during the 1991-95 transitional period after the fall of the Marxist regime of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam.
After numerous disputes the OLF quit the coalition and demanded the creation of an independent state to be called Oromia near Ethiopia’s border with Kenya and Somalia.
Bad blood between Ethiopia and Eritrea stems from a war they fought between 1998 and 2000 over their border. Despite a peace deal, the boundary dispute is yet to be resolved.
(AFP/ST)