Eritrea says Sudan and Ethiopia behind hotel blast

ASMARA, March 10 (Reuters) – Eritrea accused its regional rivals Sudan and Ethiopia on Wednesday of being behind the bombing of a hotel near the Sudanese border on March 1 in which at least three people were killed.

Eritrean Foreign Minister Ali Said Abdella told Reuters in an interview the two countries were supporting an armed group that he said had carried out the attack in the western town of Tesseney.

Asked if he thought Sudan and Ethiopia were behind the attack, he said: “I think the evidence is there, it’s a public secret.

“The Sudanese government officially said that they support these people because they want to see a change of government in Eritrea. The Ethiopian government, for very known reasons, are supporting these terrorist groups.”

Ethiopia and Sudan denied the accusation on Wednesday and both accused Eritrea of blaming them for its internal problems.

Relations are poor between Eritrea, a small Red Sea state of four million, and its two largest neighbours. The borders with both countries are closed.

Eritrea fought a war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 over a frontier dispute. Both Ethiopia and Sudan have in the past accused Eritrea of backing rebels within their borders.

Ali said he believed rebels of the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement (EIJM) had bombed Tesseney. He said the group had been trained and armed by al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden during the 1990s.

Officials of the EIJM could not immediately be contacted for comment. It has admitted previously carrying out attacks on the Eritrean military, but denies targeting civilians. Ali did not say whether the dead at Tesseney were civilians or military.

During the last six months there have been a series of bomb attacks in the west of Eritrea, some of which have been blamed by the authorities on Islamic groups.