Eritrea denies Djibouti incursion charge

April 25, 2008 (NAIROBI) — Eritrea on Friday denied accusations that its troops had crossed the border into neighbouring Djibouti and begun building defences.

“We are baffled by the accusations from Djibouti,” an official close to Eritrean president told AFP.

“We have no claims on Djibouti territory. The border is clear and does not have any ambiguity and we have not occupied even one inch of Djibouti territory.”

A Djibouti official Monday said Eritrean forces had began digging trenches on both sides of the border, with the Eritreans infringing several hundred metres (yards) on to Djiboutian territory.

Djibouti and Eritrea have clashed twice over the border area situated at the southern end of Red Sea. In April 1996 they almost went to war after a Djibouti official accused Asmara of shelling the town of Ras Doumeira.

In 1999 Eritrea accused Djibouti of siding with Asmara’s arch-foe Ethiopia while Djibouti alleged its neighbour was supporting Djiboutian rebels and had designs on the Ras Doumeira region, which Eritrea denied.

(AFP)