Yemen denies reported clashes with Eritrean forces

SANAA, Nov 28, 2004 (Yemen Times) — An official source in the defence ministry denied on Saturday news posted on alsahwa-yemen.net, a web site published by the opposition Islah party, that military forces were locked in sporadic clashes with Eritrean forces on the Hanish Archipelago in the Red Sea.

“The news is completely untrue and baseless,” the source told 26september.net. No military source has given a statement of this kind to alsahwa-yemen.net.”

The source pointed out that international arbitration had resolved the former dispute with Eritrea over fishing rights around the islands.

He also called on the media to “stick to objectivity and accuracy when dealing with such volatile news.

Material from the BBC Monitoring Service.