NEWS RELEASE

Tuesday, July 6, 1999

SOMALIS RESIST ARRIVAL OF ERITREAN ARMS SHIP

An Eritrean ship carrying weapons and Oromo Liberation Front forces was met by strong resistance from the Somali people as it attempted to unload at the Somali port of Afdera.

According to eye-witnesses, over one thousand residents of the port protested against the ship’s arrival on June 20 and threw stones. The ship was forced to turn southwards after failing to unload the weapons and the OLF forces because of the popular resistance.

Two eye-witnesses who had been to the port on business said the protestors shouted angrily at the ship saying they were fed up with wars and did not want to see weapons of mass destruction ferried to their war-weary country.

Another ship carrying weapons and hundreds of OLF soldiers docked in the southern Somali port of Merca recently. The dispatch of Eritrean-supported armed units and weapons has also led to an outcry by Somalis in Canada who demanded an immediate withdrawal of Eritrean troops from their country, according to news reports.