NEWS RELEASE

Thursday, June 24, 1999

ERITREAN DIRTY TRICKS IN SOMALIA

Eritrea is implementing a dirty tricks campaign in Somalia as part of its wider strategy of causing international unease about the war with Ethiopia. Eritrea’s aim is to bring about international intervention to end the war by creating the impression that the conflict is spilling over the region.

Not only is the Eritrean government arming Hussein Aideed, the leader of one of the Somalian factions, but also the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an Ethiopian opposition faction, in Somalia. Its aim is to create anxiety among the international community that its unprovoked war with Ethiopia has gone beyond the borders of the two countries, to divide Ethiopia’s military and human resources by opening a new front in Somalia, and to create political instability within Ethiopia.

Independent witness reports confirmed to a press agency (AP) that hundreds of OLF forces have arrived in Somalia with a large consignment of weapons. A ship carrying some 400 Oromo fighters also brought in a large consignment of weapons for Somalia faction leader, Hussien Aideed, from the Eritrean government, the third such consignment from Eritrea.

The Eritrean regime is also mobilising Ethiopian prisoners of war in Eritrea to engage in unlawful and terrorist activities in Ethiopia. According to an Ethiopian who fled from prison recently, the Asmara regime is freeing Ethiopian prisoners who are willing to engage in terrorist acts in Ethiopia.

In another attempt to destabilise the region, the Kenyan government says it is likely that Ethiopian rebels from the OLF took part in a massacre in the north-east of the country last year. Around 124 people died and about 8,000 cattle were slaughtered when during the fighting.

Hundreds of Somali demonstrators in Canada have strongly denounced Eritrean intervention in Somalia, its support for the OLF and rival Somali factions. They accused the Eritrean government of responsibility for the recent civil war and bloodshed in Somalia.