Eritrea rejects accusations of supporting Somali insurgents

May 4, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) — Eritrea denounced accusations of supporting Somali Islamist insurgents saying it was tired and sick of such accusations.

Different reports mention Eritrea as the principle weapon provider for the Somali insurgents who were fighting the Ethiopian troops in Somalia. Asmara also had been accused of coordinating with Iran in its support for the Somali opposition groups.

Also, the newly formed government in Mogadishu said this week that Eritrea continues to send weapons like AK-47s, roket-propelled grenades (RPG) etc to al Qaeda-linked Al-Shebab group.

However an Eritrean official dismissed the accusations describing it as false and have hidden motivation. “We’re tired and sick of these false accusations,” Yemane Ghebremeskel, director of President Isaias Afwerki’s office told Reuters on Monday.

“These accusations are advanced for ulterior motives,” he added.

Somali opposition groups who were in power up to the end of 2006 were received by the Eritrean government after their eviction by the Ethiopian troops who had crushed Islamic courts and restored the former Somali government. Asmara still the home of some opposition groups.

A U.N. panel of experts monitoring an arms embargo on Somalia has designated Eritrea as a weapons supplier for insurgents.

Somali National Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden on Sunday called on the international community to help stop Asmara sending arms to al Shabaab, whom Washington put on its list of terrorist groups.

In a related development two days ago the President Afwerki in an interview with a pro-Iranian TV based in Beirut, Al-Manar, denied reports about Iranian and Israeli bases in his country.

“President Isaias pointed out that Eritrea is not in need of a foreign base, be it from Iran, Israel or any other party, and that the rumor disseminated is but concocted by western intelligence networks for other objectives,” said the official Shabait website.

(ST)