10/08/09
BBCE NEWS
Eritrea has strongly denied allegations that it supports Islamist insurgents in neighbouring Somalia.
Salih Omar Abdu, its ambassador to Kenya, says the accusations, repeatedly made by the US and the African Union, are a “smear campaign”.
He says Eritrea is in favour of a united Somalia whose government represents all of its people.
Somalia is nominally ruled by a UN-backed government but insurgents control large parts of the country.
Last week US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit to Africa, warned that the US would “take action” against Eritrea if it continued to support the militants.
She said Eritrea was destabilising Somalia and its actions were “unacceptable”.
Moral obligation
But in an interview with the BBC’s Network Africa programme, Mr Abdu dismissed the claims.
“This is a smear campaign against Eritrea under the pretext that Eritrea supplies arms, ammunitions and finances [to insurgents],” he said.
|