Sudan rejects Eritrean accusations of support to radical groups

April 4, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese government has strongly rejected Eritrean accusations of a tripartite plot involving Qatar, Sudan and Turkey to destabilise the government of President Isaias Afewerki

In a statement on Thursday Asmara said Qatar and Turkey are backing a radical group called Eritrean Scholars League to carry out subversive activities to “obstructing the peace process and positive developments in the ties between Eritrea and Ethiopia in particular.”

Asmara further said these activities are waged from the Sudanese territory and referred to hate speech made by the radical group at a meeting that allegedly took place in Khartoum.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is surprised and astonished by the statement issued by the Ministry of Information in the State of Eritrea, ” said the foreign ministry in a statement released in Khartoum on Thursday.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assures that there was no meeting in Khartoum of the Eritrean group mentioned by the press release or any other Eritrean group,” further read the statement.

Relations between Khartoum and Asmara have been strained for several years as the latter was agreed by the close relations developed by Khartoum and Addis Ababa while Eritrea had been in a war against Ethiopia.

Al-Bashir tried to convince Afewerki to open a new page in his relations with Ethiopia as he had proposed to establish close economic and political cooperation between the three countries.

“The Ministry recalls that Sudan has long sought to achieve Ethiopian-Eritrean reconciliation and was one of the first countries to congratulate the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments on the restoration of their relations,” said the Sudanese foreign ministry.

“Sudan’s efforts to make peace and mediation in the Horn of Africa and the region as a whole do not require evidence and have been appreciated and praised by the international community as a whole,” further stressed the statement.

There was no comment from the government Addis Ababa on this development.

While the Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh flanked by the Presidential Adviser Yemane Gebreab travelled to Cairo on Wednesday for talks with the Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukri.

“The two sides held extensive discussions on bilateral cooperation as well as issues pertaining to the Nile Basin, Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region,” said a statement released by the information ministry in Asmara.

(ST)