Ethiopia’s FM urges Eritrea to stop support to opposition, Islamists

Jan 18, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said the Eritrean regime which has been trying hard to destabilize the Horn of Africa in collaboration with “terrorists” is putting itself into chaos. He further urged Eritrea to refrain from supporting Ethiopian opposition.

In an interview with Ethiopian TV, Seyoum said the Eritrean government is one that has repeatedly challenged the peace and security of the Horn of Africa Region. As a result, Seyoum said, the regime is remaining isolated from the international community.

According to Seyoum, the foremost victims of the Eritrean government’s anti-peace policy and moves are the Eritrean people. The minister added it is high time that the Eritrean regime realizes that its ill-objective of destabilizing Horn of Africa’s peace would not come true and that it is only backfiring on itself.

The term “anti-peace policy” is used by Addis Ababa to refer to the support provided by Asmara to the Ethiopian opposition and the Somali Islamists. Eritrea has been accused of supplying weapons to the Islamists in Somalia. It also accused of arming two Ethiopian rebel groups, the Oromo Liberation Front and Ogaden Liberation Front.

Seyoum called on Eritrea to refrain from its anti-peace activities. He said its prime attention being in fighting poverty and ensuring peace and democracy, Ethiopia has all the capacity to defend itself.

Seyoum said Ethiopia is always ready to work together with the African Union and the international community in fighting terrorism.

Seyoum said the Eritrean regime needs to know that it cannot go any further through disrupting peace in the region.

Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia have been consistently strained since Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war. A 2 1/2-year border war ended with a cease-fire agreement in 2000, but tensions have continued.

(ST)