Eritrea accuses Sudan of terrorism after hijack ruling

NAIROBI, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Eritrea accused Sudan of “encouraging terrorism” on Friday in the Horn of Africa country’s first official response to the hijacking of a plane by Eritrean asylum seekers.

A Sudanese court on Wednesday sentenced 15 of the 76 Eritreans onboard the plane to five years in jail followed by deportation for last week’s hijacking.

The Eritreans being deported from Libya forced the military transport plane to change course and land in the Sudanese capital Khartoum where they sought political asylum.

Libya had denied them refugee status.

Eritrea’s Information Minister Ali Adbu dismissed the court ruling as “a theatrical act designed to cover up the Khartoum regime’s link with the terrorists,” in a statement posted on the ministry’s official Web site on Friday.

“… the Sudanese … move in authorising interviews with the hijackers and taking advantage of the terrorism incident to attack Eritrea, instead of handing them over to Eritrea, undoubtedly confirms that the regime is continuing its terrorist acts,” the statement said.

The remarks are likely to sour already poor relations between Sudan, Africa’s largest country, and its tiny neighbour Eritrea.

Sudan has accused Asmara of backing Sudanese rebel groups, while Eritrea says Khartoum supports Islamic groups behind bomb attacks in the west of the country.

Eritrean government regulations forbid young people from leaving the country, prompting many to cross the border illegally into Ethiopia and Sudan before trying to make their way to Europe or North America.

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said 4,402 Eritreans sought asylum in Europe and North America last year, a figure that has more than tripled since 2000.

Human rights groups say hundreds of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers have been forcibly sent home, where many have faced torture and detention without charge or trial. Eritrea denies the allegations.