Eritrea WARNS US over Somalia
12 Jan 12, 2007, 13:46
ASMARA, Eritrea Jan 12 (ITV) - Eritrea has warned the US its involvement in Somalia would "incur dangerous consequences" following air strikes targeting al-Qaeda suspects in the country.
The warning was issued in a statement on the country's Information Ministry website.
It said: "President Isaias Afwerki underlined that the turmoil being created in Somalia by the US administration through its mercenary agent (Ethiopia) would incur dangerous consequences."
A senior US official said the air strike on Somalia killed up to ten al-Qaeda-affiliated "terrorists", but three of the most wanted suspects survived in the first overt US military action since a peacekeeping mission ended in 1994.
The attack was criticised by the United Nations, many European countries and the Arab League.
Eritrea has, in a matter of years, gone from being a US ally to one of its staunchest opponents, because of what its government perceives as Washington's support for rival Ethiopia in a long-standing border dispute.
Ethiopia, Washington's major counter-terrorism ally in the Horn of Africa, has said it would keep its troops in Somalia for a few weeks to help Somalia's interim government in what is the 14th attempt to restore central rule in the country since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
The US called for the speedy deployment of African peacekeepers to Somalia to stop what it called a security vacuum that could trigger fresh fighting.
