Eritrea sends a protest note to the UN over proposesd sanctions

The Eritrean government has protested against two African nations that have a seat at UN Security council ,who are the co-sponsors of fresh proposed UN sanctions against Asmara.

Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to UN security council on Friday arguing that both Gabon and Nigeria, two of the fifteen Security council members, cannot act on behalf of Africa on matters of sanctions.

"If Gabon or Nigeria is clamming to speak on behalf of Africa, the action violates basic tents of the AU rules and procedures" the Eritrean protest note read.

Sanctions endorsed

According to Asmara any role of proposing sanctions on behalf of Africa must be endorsed by the African Union assembly.

But an African Union senior security official, speaking on a condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, revealed that Eritrea's letter is an attempt to kill the proposed sanctions.

"The sanctions were discussed and endorsed by AU peace and Security Council. They were also discussed at IGAD," said the official adding that Gabon and Nigeria are just handling the technical work based on the AU direction.

Currently, Eritrea is under a fierce diplomatic battle to defend itself from further UN sanctions for her alleged involvement in Somalia and destabilisation of the Horn of Africa region. Eritrea is also accused of a plot to bomb a AU summit in January 2010, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

(Source: African Review)

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