Eritrea terms ‘extremely regrettable’ Kenyan threats over arming of Somali Shabab

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
 
November 7, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) – The diplomatic row between Kenya and Eritrea escalated after Nairobi last week accused Asmara of supplying to Somalia militants with arms and warned to take extreme options in response.
 

Kenyan foreign minister, Moses Wetangula, on Friday warned that his country could take unspecified actions against Eritrea if it fails to provide satisfactory “explanations and answers” for the allegations.

Kenya’s threat comes after three plane-loads of weapons were delivered last week to al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab militants who Kenyan forces are currently fighting in the south of Somalia.

Reports suggested that the arms came from Eritrea, a country believed to have close links with the extremist group and long been accused of arming and financing the rebels. The accusation was immediately dismissed by Eritrea as ‘pure fabrications and outright lies.’

The Eritrean ambassador to Nairobi, Beyene Russom, was summoned on Friday, where the Eritrean envoy was detailed over the allegations from his Kenyan counterpart.

“I have discussed with the ambassador and given him the full details of the allegations and the intelligence we have in our possession. We sought an explanation from him which he provided on behalf of his government. In a nutshell he denied everything as was expected,” Wetangula told the press after Friday’s meeting.

Wetangula hinted at possible action when he said if Eritrea continues to fail to give a reasonable defence against the allegation “then we move to level two.”

‘The government of Eritrea finds extremely regrettable the remarks attributable to the foreign minister of Kenya, Moses Wetangula, regarding the fabricated story of Eritrean arms shipments to Al Shabab in Somalia,’ said a statement from the Eritrean foreign ministry in response.

‘The comments were unfortunate, particularly in light of the expected visit of the Eritrean foreign minister to Kenya,’ it added.

Last month, Kenya deployed its forces to borders in Somalia to defeat Al Shabab militants following a string of cross-border attacks.

Somalia borders Kenya in the south, Ethiopia in the east.

(ST)