US Democrats reject Terror label on Eritrea for its Somalia role
(JT) The Democratic Party dominated US government rejected a move by Republican party officials to designate Eritrea as "State Sponsor of Terrorism." The amendment was forwarded by California Republican Ed Royce after the African Union (AU) and the InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) asked the UN to sanction the Eritrean government for its support for insurgents in Somalia.
Eritrea says it is being unfairly targetted and false accusations are made up by the CIA and by the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) led Ethiopian government .
The US labeling of Eritrea as "State Sponsor of Terrorism" would have brought further isolation, economic and other sanctions on Asmara. But the new Obama administration has pushed for a moderate position and for dialogue, with the new Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson asking Eritrea to stop its support for radical islamists in Somalia. Several US officials including Congressman Donald Payne have also been supportive of Eritrea's policies in Somalia. The radical change in US government policy is likely to spark more political jockeying between the rival horn of African nations. Both the impoverished horn of African nations of Ethiopia and Eritrea are also known to spend thousands of dollars to pay Washington lobbyists to influence politics in the United States. Before the US invasion of Iraq, Eritrea hired Greenberg Traurig LLP to persuade America to establish a military base at Eritrean ports and President Isaias has since spent hundreds of thousands dollars on lobbyists to make US foreign policy favorable to Asmara.
Currently, the US has four countries - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria - on its State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
The accusations on Eritrea came from its alleged support for al Qaeda-linked al Shabab insurgents in southern Somalia as well as the Hisbul Islam organization of Sheikh Aweys. Somalia president Sheikh Sharif blamed Eritrea for sending plane loads of arms for anti-government militants. Former opposition leader Sheikh Inda'Adde also said that Eritrea had supplied his men with weapons and money when he was part of the opposition.
However several US officials, particularly Democratic Party Congressman Donald Payne, have supported Eritrea's position on Somalia in the past. While the Bush administration banned arms sales to Eritrea, Congressman Donald Payne visited the Eritrean government and sponsored a congressional bill that angered the Ethiopian government. In response, Addis Ababa paid thousands of dollars and hired lobbyists to stop the bill but some US officials have continued to support the Ethiopian opposition, including the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) that the Ethiopian government fears is using bases in Somalia. After the ONLF rebels killed 74 Ethiopian and Chinese civilians in April 2007, the TPLF-led Ethiopian government's attempt to have the US tag the ONLF as a "terrorist organization" also failed.
The United States government has often considered separatists and armed rebels in the horn of Africa as popular movements with legitimate causes. Washington covertly supported the current TPLF ruling party when it was similarly labeled a "terrorist organization" by the 1980s Mengistu government of Ethiopia.
Making Alliances
According to Somalia President Sheikh Sharif, the current proxy war between Ethiopia and Eritrea in southern Somalia is about establishing bases for Ethiopian rebels in the area. He told AFP that Eritrea needs a place where armed Ethiopian opposition groups could be trained to launch attacks.
Over the years, the Meles government has mostly secured agreements with Djibouti, Kenya, Somaliland and Puntland to stop Ethiopian rebels from operating across their borders. But southern Somalia still remains up for grabs. In Sudan, both Asmara and Addis Ababa have been making economic deals and political alliances, while Eritrea's president has recently become outspoken against South Sudan, as Juba gets closer with Ethiopia.
The biggest victim of these proxy conflicts and political jockeying in the horn of Africa the last 20 years have been the government-less Somalia and its civilian population who bear the brunt of the ongoing regional crisis. Adding fuel has been the inconsistency of the US policy in Somalia that often changes every four or eight years.
With Eritrea and Ethiopia in a dangerous stalemate, with an increasing international dimension to the war in Somalia and with the West's inconsistent policy on defending values of democracy, non-violence and human rights in the region, the horn of Africa is likely to remain one of the most unstable places in the world.
RELATED LINKS
- Lobbying Database Embassy of the State of Eritrea
- UN says War Crimes Committed Daily in Somalia Fighting
