(Mar 26, 2012, ADDIS ABABA (Reuters)--Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki accused the United States of plotting cross-border raids by Ethiopian troops, saying the two allies were out to divert attention from a festering border spat in the volatile Horn of Africa.
Addis Ababa, Washington's main ally in the region, said it attacked military bases used by rebels inside Eritrea earlier this month. The incursion followed a raid by an Eritrea-based rebel group into Ethiopia's remote Afar region in January in which five foreign tourists were killed and two kidnapped.
Last week's attacks were the first on Eritrean soil that Ethiopia has admitted to since the end of a 1998-2000 war that claimed 70,000 lives and left a border dispute unresolved.
Eritrea says there have been others. "We have seen several attacks, not just one. We prefer not to talk about it and don't intend to be involved in provocations," Isaias told Eritrean state TV in an interview late on Sunday that was later broadcast on the Internet.
"The military incursions were plotted by Washington with the aim of diverting attention from implementing the boundary commission's decision," he said. U.S. embassy officials in Addis Ababa said they could not comment on Isaias' remarks while Ethiopian officials could not be reached.
The Hague-based boundary commission awarded the border village of Badme to Eritrea in 2002, but Ethiopia has yet to conform with the ruling, insisting on further negotiations on its implementation. Read more from Orlando Sentinel, Florida »
Addis Ababa, Washington's main ally in the region, said it attacked military bases used by rebels inside Eritrea earlier this month. The incursion followed a raid by an Eritrea-based rebel group into Ethiopia's remote Afar region in January in which five foreign tourists were killed and two kidnapped.
Last week's attacks were the first on Eritrean soil that Ethiopia has admitted to since the end of a 1998-2000 war that claimed 70,000 lives and left a border dispute unresolved.
Eritrea says there have been others. "We have seen several attacks, not just one. We prefer not to talk about it and don't intend to be involved in provocations," Isaias told Eritrean state TV in an interview late on Sunday that was later broadcast on the Internet.
"The military incursions were plotted by Washington with the aim of diverting attention from implementing the boundary commission's decision," he said. U.S. embassy officials in Addis Ababa said they could not comment on Isaias' remarks while Ethiopian officials could not be reached.
The Hague-based boundary commission awarded the border village of Badme to Eritrea in 2002, but Ethiopia has yet to conform with the ruling, insisting on further negotiations on its implementation. Read more from Orlando Sentinel, Florida »
No comments:
Post a Comment