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Eritrea denies Somalia a proxy battleground with Ethiopia

Aug 4, 2006 (NAIROBI) — Eritrea yesterday denied charges it is backing Islamists in Somalia to fight a proxy war with arch-rival Ethiopia, which has sent troops to support the weak Somali government.

In a “working paper” posted on an official website, Eritrea rejected as “groundless” claims it is supplying arms to the Islamists, who have seized Mogadishu and are expanding control in the south of the nation.

It warned that without urgent talks, Somalia could be plunged “into an intractable abyss” that could destabilize the entire Horn of Africa region, but added that Eritrea would not use the country to “settle scores” with Ethiopia.

“Eritrea firmly rejects all groundless accusations peddled against it in the past few months,” it said, referring to charges of its support for the Islamists from the Somali transitional government, Addis Ababa and UN experts.

“Eritrea has never seen Somalia as a proxy battlefield to settle scores with Ethiopia,” said the paper, issued by the Eritrean foreign ministry.

“Grave as it may be, the border conflict with Ethiopia is a problem between the two countries that cannot be played out in Somalia,” it said, renewing demands for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia.

Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a bloody two-year border war between 1998 and 2000 and the peace deal that ended the conflict has yet to be fully implemented with Addis Ababa refusing to accept a new boundary demarcation.

Ties between the neighbors have been badly strained for the past year with Eritrea warning of a new conflict unless the 2002 border decision is put into place.

Analysts have warned that chronic instability in Somalia, which has been without a functioning central authority for the past 16 years, could become a proxy battleground for Ethiopia and Eritrea with implications for the region.

Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia last month to protect the Somali government from feared attacks by the increasingly powerful Islamists whom it says are being supplied by Eritrea.

Asmara has repeatedly denied the charge despite a report earlier this year from UN experts monitoring a much-violated arms embargo that detailed Eritrean shipments to Islamic militia in Mogadishu.

Late last month, at least two Russian-built planes landed at the Islamist- controlled airport in Mogadishu carrying mystery cargos that Somali government officials claim were military supplies.

The Eritrean working paper said the situation in Somalia was the result of “misguided policies by external actors,” including the United States, which backed a warlord alliance against the Islamists, and internal “imprudence.”

If those policies continue, it said, “implications for regional peace and security will indeed be grave.”

To prevent that, Asmara called for an immediate resumption in stalled talks between the Islamists and the Somali government to be facilitated by the international community in the interests of the Somali people.

— 

The following is the text of the Eritrean Government’s working paper on Somalia

Posted at the official shabait.com

By Aug 3, 2006, 18:02

Somalia is at cross roads today. Misguided policies by external actors, coupled with political imprudence by key Somali political forces, could potentially exacerbate the situation and plunge the country into an intractable abyss that is by far worse than the turmoil of the past 15 years. If this is allowed to occur, its implications for regional peace and security will indeed be grave, in addition to the immense suffering it would entail to the Somali people.

But this bleak situation need not occur in the first place. It can, and should be, avoided. In the view of the Eritrean Government, this can only happen through:

i) an internal political process that is constructive and serious; and
ii) external facilitation and support that is prompted by motives that have the security and stability of Somalia and the welfare of its peoples at heart.

We must recognize that the current crisis is the derivative of multi-faceted and cumulative underlying causes. For the past 15 years, Somalia has become ensnared in a spiral of internecine conflicts, intractable clan cleavages, and, the chronic rivalry of warlords with ever-shifting alliances resulting in the fragmentation of central political authority and the balkanization of the Central State . These long years of chaos and immense suffering contrast sharply with decades of significant socio-economic progress and nation-building that Somalia enjoyed until the 1990s in a country unique in Africa for its ethnic and cultural homogeneity. Perceived geopolitical considerations by major powers, military involvement of external forces, misrepresentation of Somali political realities in the aftermath of September 11, and the failure of several peace initiatives have further compounded the internal commotion. The crisis that we see unfolding today is the byproduct of all these complications. Collective or individual initiatives that will be taken to promote enduring peace and stability in Somalia must accordingly address the parameters outlined below if they are to bear fruit.

1. External Military Intervention: Any external military intervention will further polarize the political realities of Somalia and induce greater conflagration. Ethiopia ‘s military intervention, under whatever guise or justification, is particularly dangerous both for reasons of historical animosity and because of the events of the past few years. Ethiopia must therefore cease its intermittent military intervention and withdraw the forces that it has deployed in the past few days.

2. Linkages with International Terrorism: The portrayal of developments in Somalia in terms of the global war on terrorism is factually untenable and politically imprudent. Indeed, the overarching national cause of the Somali people should not otherwise be reduced to or lumped together with this singular concern. It must be acknowledged that US support to the warlords under the rubric of fighting terrorism was a factor of complication. Some regional and local actors have also found this portrayal convenient to camouflage other ulterior motives.

3. Lifting of Arms Embargo: A recent call by some forces for a selective lifting of the UN embargo on arms is unbalanced, misguided and fraught with dangerous consequences. Indeed, this can only imperil the political process of reconciliation and durable political arrangement in Somalia . Appropriate adjustments can be contemplated when there is irreversible progress in the political arrangement giving rise to national institutions that have credible legitimacy and popular support.

4. Political Processes of National Reconciliation: The daunting problem in Somalia is essentially an internal political problem that must be solved through negotiations between Somali political forces. The role of the international community in peace must be focused on facilitating and promoting these negotiations through appropriate forums and mechanisms.

5. Territorial Disputes: The current situation in Somalia is raising the specter of territorial claims and disputes between Somalia and its neighbors. Territorial disputes and claims can only be settled by strict adherence to the sanctity of colonial boundaries, and the international community should adopt this stance firmly and unequivocally.

The Government of Eritrea believes and sincerely hopes that the international community can foster a forward-looking consensus around these five points at this meeting. Eritrea does not wish to engage in fruitless discourse of acrimony, but it should be emphasized that Eritrea firmly rejects all groundless accusations peddled against it in the past few months. As underlined before, Eritrea has never seen Somalia as a proxy battlefield to settle scores with Ethiopia . Grave as it may be, the border conflict with Ethiopia is a problem between the two countries that cannot be played out in Somalia .

(ST/agencies)

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