From: Merhawie (merhawie@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Jun 19 2009 - 13:46:25 EDT
Carson Acknowledges ties with EthiopiaBy Tizita Belachew
Washington DC
*18/06/2009*
The State Department’s new voice for African affairs, Johnnie Carson,
acknowledged during an exclusive interview with Amharic service reporter
Tizita Belachew, the close working relationship the U.S. government enjoys
with the administration of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Carson said the United States supports the current Ethiopian government
because they overthrew the worst dictator in Africa, Mengistu Haile Mariam,
and enacted political reforms allowing opposition parties and civil
liberties. However, he said democratization is slowing down recently in
Ethiopia.
“We will want to talk to the Ethiopian government about opening political
space, strengthening institutions, having greater involvement of civil
society and more respect for the rights of individual in the economic and
political sphere.”
Asked how to resolve the border tension with Eritrea, he said, “Implementing
the Algiers’s Accord will dissolve the tension between Addis Ababa and
Asmara.”
In a 45-minute interview covering issues in several African countries,
Carson said “leaders’ in countries in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Djibouti and Kenya, should work for peace and development and their
citizens’ rights rather than trying to achieve political victory over their
neighbors or internal political opposition.”
The assistant secretary of state for Africa also said his government
supports the regional effort to bring peace and stability to Somalia.
However, he said, “there is a growing body of real and circumstantial
evidence that points to continued relationship between some elements in
Asmara and individuals associated with al-Shabab in and around Mogadishu.”
Nonetheless, he said United States seeks to have a better relationship with
Eritrea. If, in fact, the government of Eritrea is prepared to do things
transparently and in a very open and responsible manner, the United States’
door is open for good cordial relations.
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