From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Sat Mar 06 2010 - 13:43:46 EST
Sudan's Bashir slams UN sanctions on Eritrea-media
Sat Mar 6, 2010 1:07pm GMT
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By Jeremy Clarke
ASMARA, March 6 (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has criticized
the sanctions imposed on Eritrea last December by the United Nations
Security Council, Eritrean local media reported on Saturday.
Bashir paid a one-day working visit on the Red Sea state on Friday during
which he held talks with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and attacked the
U.N. resolution.
"The people and the government of Sudan reject the unjust sanctions
Resolution 1907 against Eritrea," the state-run Eritrea Profile reported
Bashir as saying.
Yemane Gebreab, head of political affairs at Eritrea's ruling party,
welcomed the support.
"Such a logical stance would further enhance Eritrean-Sudanese ties and
Eritrea would as ever stand alongside the Sudanese people," the Profile
reported Yemane as saying.
Bashir's visit follows Isaias' involvement in pursuing a peaceful resolution
to the Darfur crisis in Sudan as the two nations continue to strengthen
ties, the Profile said.
The Sudanese president is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC)
on charges of "war crimes and crimes against humanity" for his alleged role
in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
The United Nations believes that seven years of violence in Darfur has left
300,000 dead and ICC prosecutors say Bashir "masterminded and implemented" a
plan to destroy three ethnic groups using a campaign of murder, rape and
deportation.
Bashir has dismissed the charges and says any ruling by the court is
worthless.
The U.N. Security Council accuses Eritrea of providing funds and weapons to
Islamist insurgents in Somalia where violence has killed 21,000 since the
beginning of 2007, and last December the council slapped sanctions on
Eritrea.
The resolution supported by 13 of the 15 council members was designed to
target the nation's leadership, imposing an arms embargo as well as asset
freezes and travel bans on individuals and firms to be designated by an
existing sanctions committee. (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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