Eritrea says US pursuing “narrow interests,” siding with Ethiopia
Sept 27, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — An Eritrean government minister accused the United States of pursuing its “perceived narrow interests” and siding with rival Ethiopia at the expense of peace in the Horn of Africa region.
In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, Eritrea’s Health Minister Saleh Meky said years of failure to resolve a border dispute with Ethiopia were a result of the West’s condoning Ethiopia’s violations of a peace settlement.
“To single out Ethiopia as the primary and only culprit would be missing the forest for the woods,” Meky said. “The fact is Ethiopia has neither the power not the political skill to defy international law for a single day, let along for four long years.”
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, but their border was never settled. In April 2002, following another, 2 1/2-year, border war, an international boundary commission awarded the key town of Badme to Eritrea _ but Ethiopia has refused to implement the deal.
Angered at the international community’s failure to ensure that the ruling is obeyed, Eritrea banned U.N. helicopter flights and vehicle movements at night on its side of the buffer zone and ordered Western peacekeepers to leave the U.N. force in December.
Meky accused the United States of insincere rhetoric and of going along with Ethiopia’s attempts to revise the boundary commission ruling.
“Solemn pledges on upholding international justice and the rule of law, such as collective commitments to prevent and resolve conflicts and avoid humanitarian disasters, that we have heard on this podium from leaders of major powers ring hollow on the altar of reality,” he said.
“When the chips are down, major powers, and especially the United States, continue to pursue their perceived narrow interests at the expense of regional peace and security, and the sovereign rights of nations and peoples,” Meky said.
Amid the dispute, Eritrea has arrested civilians working for the United Nations and the United States, often holding them for weeks without charge. All private media outlets have been shut down in Eritrea, which is considered one of the most repressive regimes in Africa.
(AP/ST)