A government minister in Ethiopia has sided with Somali government officials and has accused Eritrea of transporting weapons to opposition groups in Somalia, Radio Garowe reports.

Mohamud Dirir, the Ethiopian Minister for Communication, Culture and Tourism, said the Ethiopian government has long warned the world against Eritrea’s continued interference in Somalia.

“It is not hidden that the Eritrean government is making efforts to weaken the political progress in Somalia,” the Ethiopian Communication Minister said.

He reiterated allegations voiced by Somali government officials, saying that Eritrea has “donated weapons” to Islamist hardliners in Somalia, namely Al Shabaab.

“Planes full of weapons landed at Baledogle [airstrip in Lower Shabelle region], but the Somali government immediately informed the world,” Minister Dirir said.

Somali Security Minister Omar Hashi and Foreign Minister Abdullahi Oomar recently accused Eritrea of transporting a weapons shipment to Baledogle airstrip, which is under the control of Al Shabaab.

Earlier this week, confidential sources reported that the armed opposition was pouring weapons into Mogadishu for an eventual all-out war against the U.N.-endorsed Government of National Unity, led by Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

Minister Dirir said the Ethiopian government “will not cross the border” into Somalia, although he admitted that Ethiopia and Eritrea – long-time Horn of Africa rivals – are divided over political developments in that country.

The Ethiopian army’s two-year military intervention into south-central Somalia ended in Jan. 2009 after the Somali interim government signed a peace pact with an opposition faction led by Sheikh Sharif, who was elected Somali President following U.N.-sponsored peace talks.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bloody border war in 1998-2000 that killed upwards of 70,000 people.

RELATED:
READ: Eritrea govt rejects allegations of importing weapons to Somalia

Comments

comments