US says Eritrea still can avoid “sponsors of terrorism” list
September 9, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia) — The U.S. could halt plans to declare Eritrea a “state sponsor of terrorism” if it stops its support of “terrorists” in Somalia, the top U.S. African affairs diplomat said.
“There’s always a chance for Eritrea to stop what it’s doing,” Jendayi Frazer, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told journalists late Saturday.
It was the second time that Frazer had publicly spoken of the evidence her country is compiling of alleged Eritrean support of al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants in Somalia.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Information called for “appropriate measures,” to be taken against Eritrea, its archrival, for “openly pursuing its strategy of destabilizing Somalia and the region.”
Eritrea has described allegations that is sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the Horn of Africa region as “preposterous.”
Frazer said that evidence of Eritrean support for extremists includes a conference of Somali dissidents Eritrea is currently hosting that includes individuals who have been linked to al-Qaida.
“We are continuing to gather information and evidence, and I think that we need to do a very thorough job there. But clearly the fact that Eritrea is providing sanctuary for terrorists is best illustrated by the report that Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys was in Asmara yesterday (Friday),” Frazer said.
Aweys has been singled out in a U.S. executive order and a U.N. Security Council resolution for his association with al-Qaida, Frazer said. “So he’s a designated terrorist attending a conference in Asmara that’s supported by the (Eritrean) government.”
Aweys has denied he is a terrorist or has any links with al-Qaida.
U.S. policy toward Eritrea “has nothing to do with principles of international law or with values of justice, democracy and human rights,” the Eritrean Ministry of Information said in a Wednesday statement. “The United States has all along believed that its perceived strategies in the region can be better served by Ethiopia.”
U.N. experts have found Eritrea to be the primary source of weapons and cash for Islamic insurgents in Somalia, something Eritrea has denied.
On Aug. 17, Frazer said U.S. government agencies will evaluate any evidence gathered and then a decision will be made whether to declare Eritrea a state sponsor of terrorism, a rare move that would impose severe sanctions on the impoverished nation and put it in the same pariah category as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
No timeline has been given for when the U.S. may make such a designation.
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war, but the border between the countries was never officially demarcated. Another war broke out from 1998-2000, killing tens of thousands, and now, some fear they are waging a proxy war in Somalia, where Ethiopian troops have remained since December.
Aweys’s movement, known as the Council of Islamic Courts, ruled Somalia’s capital and much of southern Somalia for six months last year, until Ethiopian forces, backing Somali troops, drove it out in December. Remnants of the group have launched an insurgency, vowing to realize their dream of ruling Somalia according to the Quran.
(AP)