Eritrea Sanctioned Over Somalia Terrorism Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Eritrean government and military leaders accused of being allied with al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in a bid to topple Somalia’s transitional government became the target of United Nations sanctions today.

The UN Security Council voted 13-1 to ban the travel and freeze the assets of Eritreans designated by a committee of the 15-nation panel. The measure imposes an arms embargo on Eritrea, authorizes inspection of cargo going to or from the country on the Red Sea, and demands that it settle a border dispute with Djibouti.

Libya was the only nation to vote against the resolution, which was drafted by Uganda. China abstained from the vote.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said the resolution was meant to halt Eritrean “assistance to violent elements in Somalia who are working to overthrow the government.” She said the Obama administration would continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

“We have sought to encourage quietly the government of Eritrea to take the steps it claims it intends to take but it will not take and has not taken,” Rice told reporters after the vote. “We do not see this as the door closing on Eritrea but, on the contrary, as another opportunity for Eritrea to play a more responsible and constructive role in the region.”

Eritrea, a country of more than 5 million people with an economy based largely on agriculture, borders Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Somalia Struggle

Islamist groups including al-Shabaab and the Hisb-ul-Islam movement, previously based in Eritrea, have gained control of most of southern and central Somalia in their bid to oust President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s UN-backed transitional government. Somalia is in its 18th year of civil war and hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the removal of Mohamed Siad Barre, the former dictator, in 1991.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in August that Eritrea should stop funneling weapons and funds to the al- Shabaab militia. The group is accused of giving safe haven and logistical support to al-Qaeda-linked terrorists aiming to establish a caliphate, or Islamic government, in Somalia.

“If al-Shabaab were to obtain a haven in Somalia, which could then attract al-Qaeda and other actors, it would be a threat to the United States,” Clinton said on Aug. 6.

Eritrean Denials

Eritrea’s ambassador to the UN denied his government supports the groups and said the U.S. pressured the Security Council to impose the sanctions.

“The Security Council has passed a shameful resolution,” Ambassador Araya Desta said. “It is based on fabricated lies concocted by the Ethiopian regime and the U.S. administration. We haven’t done anything.”

U.S.-backed Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in December 2006, ousting the Islamic Courts Union government that had briefly captured southern Somalia. They withdrew in January.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki told the Washington Post before the UN vote that sanctions would be “regrettable” if they are “meant to blackmail or intimidate Eritrea.”

By Bill Varner Bloomberg

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