From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Oct 10 2009 - 12:49:04 EDT
Ethiopia's Meles in outburst over Eritrea
(AFP) - 1 hour ago
Saturday, October 10, 2009
ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accused Eritrea on
Saturday of sowing havoc in the region as Addis Ababa reiterated calls
for sanctions over Asmara's alleged support for Somalia's rebels.
"It is going on and on with its creating havoc agenda. The character of
this regime is not changing," Meles told parliament.
He said that Ethiopia has done its best to establish a dialogue with its
former foe, with which it fought a 1998-2000 border war that left more
than 80,000 dead.
"We believe in dialogue, we have actually knocked on the door many times
and they haven't responded," he said.
Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of backing Islamist rebels fighting to
overthrow the Somali transitional government, which Ethiopia is helping
to prop up. Eritrea denies the accusations.
The African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
(IGAD), a six-nation regional grouping, have also called for sanctions
against Asmara in recent months.
"The evidence (of Eritrea's involvement) is definitive, the need (for
sanctions) is undeniable," Ethiopia's foreign ministry said in a
statement on Saturday.
"Every day the crisis worsens. Neither the region as a whole, nor
Somalia in particular, can afford the consequences of failure. Peace and
security issues affect domestic as well as regional considerations and
all the IGAD states need a solution in Somalia, and quickly."
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