Eritrea rejects world criticism over Djibouti clash
13th June 2008
Eritrean media has accused the United States government of using clashes on the Eritrean/Djibouti border as part of a plot to create regional uncertainty. The BBC reported June 12 that nine Djiboutians had been killed in border clashes in the Mount Gabla region, the culmination of “weeks of tension” between the two countries.
Council of the UN Security Council president Zalmay Khalilzad read a statement which expressed the Council’s “strong concern about the serious incidents that occurred on June 10 along the frontier,” and condemned “Eritrea’s military action against Djibouti in Ras Doumeira and Doumeira Island,” and urges both parties to work toward a ceasefire. Ras Doumeira is a promontory overlooking the Red Sea.
However, Eritrea has rejected any criticism of its activities on the border, and in a statement the country’s Foreign Ministry said it was “unfortunate” that the U.S. administration was embroiled in “instigating, compounding and inflaming regional conflicts with the purpose of creating turmoil," adding that the US routinely vilified Djibouti. Eritrea also “expressed its discontent” at Arab League condemnation of the alleged border incursion.
The incident confirms the complexity of the current situation in the Horn of Africa. Tensions remain high on the Ethiopia/Eritrean border, following the effective expulsion of the United Nations peace-keeping force, and in Somalia. The United States has on several occasions expressed concerns that Eritrea has backed rebel groups in Somalia, a claim which Eritrea denies. Djibouti, home to both US and French troops, is the main route to the Red Sea for landlocked Ethiopia, with whom Eritrea fought a bitter war between 1998-2000.
Eritrean media has accused the United States government of using clashes on the Eritrean/Djibouti border as part of a plot to create regional uncertainty. The BBC reported June 12 that nine Djiboutians had been killed in border clashes in the Mount Gabla region, the culmination of “weeks of tension” between the two countries.
Council of the UN Security Council president Zalmay Khalilzad read a statement which expressed the Council’s “strong concern about the serious incidents that occurred on June 10 along the frontier,” and condemned “Eritrea’s military action against Djibouti in Ras Doumeira and Doumeira Island,” and urges both parties to work toward a ceasefire. Ras Doumeira is a promontory overlooking the Red Sea.
However, Eritrea has rejected any criticism of its activities on the border, and in a statement the country’s Foreign Ministry said it was “unfortunate” that the U.S. administration was embroiled in “instigating, compounding and inflaming regional conflicts with the purpose of creating turmoil," adding that the US routinely vilified Djibouti. Eritrea also “expressed its discontent” at Arab League condemnation of the alleged border incursion.
The incident confirms the complexity of the current situation in the Horn of Africa. Tensions remain high on the Ethiopia/Eritrean border, following the effective expulsion of the United Nations peace-keeping force, and in Somalia. The United States has on several occasions expressed concerns that Eritrea has backed rebel groups in Somalia, a claim which Eritrea denies. Djibouti, home to both US and French troops, is the main route to the Red Sea for landlocked Ethiopia, with whom Eritrea fought a bitter war between 1998-2000.