DJIBOUTI, 16 November 2006 — Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki has slammed the United States for fanning conflicts in the Horn of Africa region, particulary in Somalia, where an imminent war threatens to engulf the volatile region.
From Eritrea’s independence struggle to its simmering border row with arch-rival Ethiopia and the unrest in the war-devastated Somalia, Issaias blamed Washington for stoking the conflicts for its interests.
Tracing its role to the end of World War II, he said Washington had favored the existence of Ethiopia over Eritrea that put up decades of armed struggle for independence from Ethiopia, of which it was formerly a province.
“Our conflict is historically (tied) with the United States,” he said in an interview yesterday.
“Eritrea could have enjoyed its right to self-determination after the Second World War, but the United States ... came with a global strategy deciding the fate of Eritrea to be somehow linked with Ethiopia because Ethiopia was considered to be a major proxy in the region,” said Issaias.
He also blamed the United States for their unresolved border row with Ethiopia despite insisting that the matter had been resolved by the decision of an independent border commission in 2002.
“Why was it (ruling) not implemented? Because the United States doesn’t want to implement the decision. They like to live on conflict. They create conflicts and exploit conflict. That’s it,” he said.
He also said Washington was using Addis Ababa as its “tools and puppets” to navigate and destabilize the region.
The Eritrean leader charged the world’s super power with fomenting fighting in lawless Somalia, where a powerful Islamic movement and a weak government are on the edge of an all-out war.
The Somali Islamists have accused Ethiopia of sending thousands of troops to Somalia to protect the government, but Addis Ababa maintains it sent only a few hundred military advisers.
Eritrea has been accused of supplying weapons and sending some 2,000 soldiers to back the Islamists, which Issaias denies as “crazy, false and insane.”
Instead, Issaias said Washington had accused the Somali Islamic leaders of links to terrorism groups, including Al-Qaeda in order to intervene.
“We don’t want the United States to be involved under the umbrella of fighting terrorism, because it will be a complication,” he added.
The Islamists have rejected the planned deployment of peacekeepers, a position which Eritrea and Djibouti support.
“We support the choice of the Somali people. We don’t accept, agree or condone any external intervention under any pretext,” Issaias said.
