Sudan welcomes enquiry into Eritrean assassination-attempt charge: FM

KHARTOUM, Oct 21 (AFP) — Sudan said Thursday it would welcome an investigation into allegations by Eritrea that it was plotting to assassinate its neighbour’s president.

Khartoum “will not object to launching an international or African enquiry into the Eritrean allegations that the (Sudanese) government was involved in an attempt to assassinate President (Isaias) Afeworki,” Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail was quoted as saying by the state-run SUNA agency.

“We expect Eritrea to start aggression but we will reply to such an act,” he continued, saying the accusation was “a prelude to a plan for launching an attack on the Sudan.”

Eritrea announced Wednesday it had broken up a “terrorist network” backed by the Sudanese government that was plotting to kill Afeworki and attack civilian targets.

Strained relations between the neighbours worsened considerably in 2002, when Khartoum accused Asmara of supporting an offensive by Sudanese rebels on its territory. The common border has since been closed.

Sudanese opposition groups, some of them armed movements, occasionally hold meetings in Asmara.

Another cause of tension is Sudan’s good relationship with Ethiopia, which fought a border war with Eritrea between 1998 and 2000. The peace process between Eritrea and Ethiopia has stalled.