Djibouti says Eritrea arming, training militias

Addis Ababa (WIC) - Djibouti's foreign minister accused neighboring Eritrea on Sunday of arming and training militias to carry out sabotage in the Horn of Africa country, and of fomenting chaos in the region, according to Reuters.

"Eritrea is exporting chaos. Exporting chaos has become routine in Eritrea," Mahmoud Ali Youssef told reporters in Cairo after talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.  "They have started training militias and arming them to carry out sabotage in Djibouti, just as they support elements in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia," he added.  Youssef repeated regional complaints that Eritrea was backing Somalia's al Shabaab insurgent group, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia. Youssef said he and Moussa also discussed developments in Somalia and Yemen.  The United States and the United Nations accuse Eritrea of supporting al Shabaab. Ethiopia also accuses Eritrea of supporting fighters in its ethnically Somali eastern Ogaden region.

The U.N. Security Council, the African Union and Washington have all warned Asmara against destabilizing Somalia, and a move to impose sanctions has gathered speed, with Britain joining a chorus of states willing to punish Eritrea.

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