Eritrean opposition says ready to attack government army

December 29, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) — An Eritrean opposition group said prepared to attack the government army as the United nations decided to impose sanction on Asmara last week.

“This is a good opportunity for us,” Cornelios Osman, head of the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunama (DMLEK) told the Agence France presse today..

“We are preparing our military forces to launch more attacks,” he added. “We are inside Eritrea and will hit selected targets and institutions.”

The United Nations Security Council imposed on Wednesday an arm embargo on Eritrea for aid provided to Somali Islamist rebels. Asmara, for longtime, is accused by regional and international organizations for supporting Somalia insurgents and looking to destabilize the UN backed fragile government. Also it refuses to withdraw troops from a disputed border area with Djibouti despite repeated calls.

However Asmara rejected the decision describing it as “a shameful day” for the United Nations.

The opposition official said the sanctions would “further isolate the regime” and “deter it from receiving the hundreds of millions of dollars it gets” annually from the Eritrean Diaspora.

DMLEK is a member of the Ethiopia based coalition Eritrean Democratic Alliance, of which two other groups have also waged a nascent armed struggle often staging hit-and-run attacks.

This week three opposition groups met in the Ethiopian capital to discuss preparations for a unity conference they plan to organize in order to establish a new political structure.

The chairman of the Sena’a Cooperation Forum and representative of the Ethiopian government, Mr. Hubur Gebrekidan, in remarks delivered at the opening sitting of the meeting, praised the merger of the three groups and pledged the support of the Ethiopian government and the regional forum to the meeting.

(ST)