From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Oct 07 2008 - 15:37:37 EDT
Press Release: Unwarranted Act Stemming from Utter Desperation
By Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Oct 7, 2008, 14:22
On October 6 yesterday, the US State Department issued a government notice banning arms sales to Eritrea by designating it "as a country that is not fully cooperating with anti-terrorism efforts". Venezuela, Cuba, Syria, Iran and North Korea are other countries that were put in the list previously by a similar US government notice. The timing and real motivation of this ludicrous act is too transparent to seasoned observers of our region to merit further elaboration.
Indeed, as it must be crystal clear to all concerned, this unwarranted measure is purely prompted by the frustration of the US Administration with the misguided policies it has been pursuing in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Sudan. Furthermore, US authorities could not substantiate the unfounded accusations they leveled against Eritrea in the past as a "sponsor of terrorism." In the event, they have concocted this indirect ruse as a last ditch effort to cover up their blunder.
The real facts are otherwise the following:
a.. Eritrea has at no time in its history purchased, or received in any form, military hardware from the United States.
b.. In our region, groups and elements that the United States often dubs as "terrorists" are in reality those that Washington itself, and its surrogates in the Horn of Africa, employ for subversive activities.
c.. If Eritrea would wish to purchase weapons from the United States, it could not possibly be barred from doing so under spurious concerns of "non-cooperation with anti-terrorism efforts."
On the occasion, the Government of Eritrea urges the US Administration to stop its reckless policies in our region that have fuelled instability.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara
7 October 2008
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