Eritrea disappointed with Sudan over its silence on arms embargo

(KHARTOUM) – The President of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, rapped Sudan over its lack of support in the run-up to the imposition of an arms embargo on the country last month. He was speaking in an interview with Sudanese media, during which he otherwise emphasized strong relations between the two countries.

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers in May last year called on the UN Security Council to sanction Eritrea over its call to overthrow the Somali government. IGAD’s move against Eritrea was backed strongly by Ethiopia and Djibouti, which lost a strip of territory to Eritrean forces in 2008.

Then in December 2009 the Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea over its support for Somali rebels. Under the new UN measure, Eritrea faces an arms embargo as well as asset freezes and travel bans on some individuals and firms including political and military officials.

President Afwerki in his recent interview expressed some disappointment in the lack of support that Eritrea had received from Sudan when it was targeted by a UN Security Council Resolution. Isaias said, "Although we were a bit surprised by the silence on the part of Sudan ’s representative to IGAD when the resolution was passed, this will by no means mar the ties between both countries. Eritrea does not view this as a big problem and it won’t be raised as an issue in bilateral relations."

The Eritrean and Sudanese regimes, although erstwhile enemies, now have close relations. The Eritrean leader had welcomed his visiting Sudanese counterpart after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese leader.

Both countries are under scrutiny from international powers such as the United States, which opposes Eritrean activities in Somalia. Afwerki in his interview, which was paraphrased on the website of the Eritrean Ministry of Information, highlighted this commonality.

He pointed out that "the countries of the region have lost many golden opportunities in the past 20 years as a result of external interferences… domestic and regional problems in the Horn region can only be resolved through rebuffing external forces and their agents while strengthening coordination among one another," according to the Information Ministry.