Muhammad Posted October 14, 2003 Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of aiding terrorists October 11 2003 at 04:21PM Addis Ababa - Ethiopia has accused neighbouring Eritrea of sponsoring extremist groups currently fighting the Addis Ababa regime and called on the public to be vigilant against terror activities. "The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), al-Itihad al-Islami and other terror groups are sponsored by the Eritrean government," an Ethiopian information ministry statement released here on Friday night claimed. Eritrean authorities were not available to comment on the statement. The OLF represents Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, the Oromos, who have been fighting for more than a decade for an independent homeland, while al-Itihad is an armed Islamic group based in neighbouring Somalia that wants independence for the predominantly Somali-populated Ogaden region of southeast Ethiopia. The statement also accused the OLF of trying, in complicity with other similar groups, to smuggle weapons into Ethiopia's hinterland. Last month, the Ethiopian government blamed the OLF for a bomb blast that killed two train passengers in the northeast of the country. But an OLF spokesperson, based in London, denied last week responsibility for the attack and instead accused the government of trying "to use the OLF as a scapegoat for its failures politically and economically." The spokesperson also denied having any connections with the Eritrean government. Ethiopia and its northern neighbour, Eritrea, fought a two-year border war from 1998 to 2000 and have since continued a war of words over the demarcation of their common border, the main cause of the bloody conflict. - Sapa-AFP » :: Source Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
