Eritrea: no to Sudan’s “duplicitous pleadings”
ASMARA, Sep 5, 2004 — Following a text of statement entitled “The Khartoum regime and its duplicitous pleadings” issued by the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in English, republished by Eritrean Ministry of Information’s Shabait web site on 4 September:
On Wednesday 1 September, the Sudanese News Agency (SUNA), quoting the Sudanese minister of federal government, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, disseminated a fictitious report claiming that the government of Sudan “welcomed the desire of the Eritrean regime to normalize its relations with Sudan, saying that there are a number of indicators from the [Sudanese opposition] National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that Eritrea wants the NDA to reach an agreement with the government toward paving the way for improving the Sudanese-Eritrean relations.”
This information comes at a tense time when the Sudanese government is increasingly besieged from widespread popular opposition and power struggle from inside the country, while externally it is exposed to severe international condemnation due to the ethnic conflict that it had instigated in the Darfur region. Thus, under such circumstances, it is obvious why the Khartoum regime is directing its deceitful pleading towards Eritrea with such a fabricated report. It is to be noted that in the past the Khartoum regime has been appealing to various diplomatic circles “to act as intermediaries for reconciliation with the government of Eritrea” stating that “Eritrea can play a positive role to solve the problem of the Sudan as it has been closely following the Sudanese problem.” However, the Khartoum regime’s latest entreaties do not emanate from a genuine desire for peace and good neighbourliness, but as always are face-saving ploys used to gain some breathing space whenever the regime finds itself under duress. Therefore, this is not a call that Eritrea gives any serious consideration. The problem that exists between Eritrea and Sudan has basically the same cause as the problem between the Sudan and the international community. Apart from this there is no other special problem. The improvement of relations between Eritrea and Sudan is tied to the resolution of the Sudanese government’s problem with the international community, and thus Eritrea does not have any special appeal to make to the government of Sudan.
Upon coming to power in 1989 through a military coup d’etat, the regime of Umar al-Bashir started out with an extremist Islamist ideology having expansionist domestic, regional and international objectives. As part and parcel of this regional project, it is a known fact that the regime has been continuously training terrorists and deploying them to disrupt the peace and stability of Eritrea. The Sudanese regime’s ties with terrorist groups and individuals were known to Eritrea from the start as it experienced the impact directly. Aside from the fact that notorious terrorists such as Usamah Bin-Ladin and Carlos had their residence in Sudan, other terrorists organized by the Sudanese government undertook an assassination attempt on the life of Egyptian president Husni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, as well as a failed operation to assassinate President Isayas Afewerki on 14 November 1996.
Thus, the fundamental cause for the deterioration of relations between Eritrea and Sudan has been the terrorist agenda of the Sudanese government. When the TPLF [Tigray People’s Liberation Front, dominant party within ruling coalition] minority regime of Ethiopia declared war on Eritrea in May 1998 based on its spiteful and bitter agenda of “destroying Eritrea at any cost”, it entered into an alliance with the Sudanese government to set up a hostile encirclement of Eritrea. Out of its desire and belief that the might of TPLF regime would defeat Eritrea, the Khartoum regime conducted numerous hostile attempts in coordination with the TPLF regime’s war of aggression against Eritrea.
Many detailed evidences could be presented regarding the terrorist operations and failed attacks against Eritrea in which the minority TPLF regime of Ethiopia was the financial sponsor and mastermind while the Khartoum regime played the role of facilitator and provided enabling platform. The most recent terrorist operation perpetrated in the town Barentu [western Eritrea] during the week of the 13th anniversary celebrations of Eritrea’s independence [in May 2004] could be cited as one example out of the many reported and unreported hostile acts of the two regimes against Eritrea. Besides this, the regime in Khartoum, thinking that Eritrea survives on the back of Sudan, has recently closed the common borders and stopped all trade and economic activities between the two countries in its futile attempt to create pressure on the people and government of Eritrea.
The Khartoum regime’s attempts to fulfil its extremist objectives by cooperating with the TPLF regime and various terrorist groups came to naught. Its extremist ideology could not work even inside the Sudan, let alone at the regional level. The Sudanese people’s opposition to the regime, be it in the north and the south or the east and the west, has been intensifying from time to time, causing Sudan to be isolated globally, and plunging the regime into a political crisis from which it has been unable to extricate itself. However, as usual, this time around too the government of Sudan was only interested in prolonging it stay in power and not in seeking genuine resolution of the crisis. Instead of looking objectively at its failed policies and the problems of the Sudanese people, facing them courageously to try to find solutions, the regime has not completely given up on its extremist ideology, and like the proverbial fool who plays all his cards until all options are exhausted, it has chosen to engage in a cycle of opportunistic manoeuvres that keep changing from day to day. The latest pleading from the government of Sudan for improvement of ties with Eritrea, therefore, is a continuation of these types of ploys.
As the government of Eritrea has ample experience of the duplicitous modus operandi of the Khartoum regime and is familiar with its repeated patterns, it does not give much attention to the latest insincere pleadings of the arrogant regime. The government of Eritrea only has time for serious matters of state, not for useless diplomatic manoeuvres. Nevertheless, the government of Eritrea will continue its unreserved efforts, as always, for the comprehensive solution of the Sudanese problem, side by side with the people of the Sudan and its representative political forces, so that the fraternal people of the Sudan will achieve durable peace and stability.