Eritrea determined to form new opposition front: Sudanese ruling party

KHARTOUM, Apr 18, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — The secretary-general of the ruling Nationa Congress (NC) Ibrahim Ahmad Omar has accused the Eritrean government of striving to create an opposition alliance to replace the Sudanese government and obstruct current efforts for reaching an agreement between the government and the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani and currently based in Cairo.

He said that the Eritrean regime and Israel had begun to establish military training camps for the rebels and were harbouring leaders of the said alternative alliance, the Sudanese Al-Khartoum newspaper reported.

Omar affirmed the ruling party and government’s desire to use dialogue and peaceful negotiations to resolve all issues of contention with the opposition and to avert the aftermath of the conflict in Darfur.

He pointed out that development projects in the eastern and western parts of the country were being delayed because of lack of security.

Speaking to a delegation of the Arab Journalists Union at the party’s HQ yesterday, the secretary-general briefed the delegation on reasons for an inimical campaigns targeting the country.

Relations between Eritrea and Sudan are tense with the two governments frequently accusing each other of supporting opposition movements on the other’s soil.

The border between the two countries has been officially closed since October 2002, when Khartoum accused Asmara of supporting an offensive led by Sudanese rebels near Kassala, in eastern Sudan.