http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL6E7NN1V120111223?sp=true
Eritrea asks U.N. to replace "biased" Somalia panel
Fri Dec 23, 2011 4:07pm GMT
* Report accused Asmara of supporting militants in Somalia
* Eritrea says report based on 'lies', denies links
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Eritrea has called on the United
Nations to replace what it says is a "biased" monitoring group on
Somalia after the panel's report prompted sanctions on Asmara over
links with militant groups in Mogadishu, according to a letter sent to
the Security Council.
The reclusive Red Sea state is incensed by a raft of accusations
published by the U.N. Monitoring Group report on Somalia in July which
accused Asmara of providing political, financial, training and
logistical support to al Shabaab militants and other armed groups in
Somalia.
Eritrea denies the charges.
The report triggered a Security Council resolution on Dec. 5 that
expanded sanctions against Eritrea for continuing to provide support
to Islamist militants. The resolution also urged countries to make
their companies involved in mining in Eritrea to exercise vigilance to
ensure funds were not used to destabilise the region.
Eritrea had already been slapped with an arms embargo, assets freeze
and travel ban in 2009.
In a letter obtained by Reuters, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh
urged the Security Council's current chair, Russian envoy Vitaly
Churkin, to establish an "independent, impartial and credible body".
Saleh said the monitoring group had "failed to garner the support of
many (council) members due to its lack of independence,
professionalism, impartiality and objectivity, as well as its
susceptibility to political influences".
Saleh also called for the lifting of sanctions, saying they were
rooted on "fabricated" accusations emanating from "hostile political
objectives", according to the letter dated Dec. 19.
Despite repeated denials that it is not a destabilising force in the
volatile Horn of Africa region, Eritrea is widely regarded in the
international community as a pariah state and is deeply mistrusted by
its neighbours. Analysts say its latest request will probably fall on
deaf ears.
The monitoring group was set up by the Security Council in 2002 to
monitor embargoes on the delivery of arms to Somalia. Its mandate was
expanded in July, allowing the group to investigate revenues generated
from rebel-held seaports in the anarchic country.
Eritrea, however, says the monitoring group has come under heavy
influence from arch-foe Ethiopia and the United States and dismisses
any links with Somalia's militants, including the al Qaeda-linked al
Shabaab rebels.
Eritrea is at loggerheads with Ethiopia over disputed territory and
accuses the U.S. of failing to force Addis Ababa to hand over disputed
land that was awarded to the Red Sea state by a U.N. commission after
a border dispute a decade ago.
The Horn of Africa nation has also accused Washington of obstructing
President Isaias Afewerki's attempt to address the Security Council
ahead of the sanctions resolution.
(Editing by Yara Bayoumy)
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Received on Fri Dec 23 2011 - 19:20:47 EST