Military

DATE=10/22/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENCE REPORT

TITLE=ERITREA/SUDAN (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-319838

BYLINE=RAYMOND THIBODEAUX

DATELINE=NAIROBI

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Sudan-Eritrean Tensions Rise After Assassination Attempt Claim

INTRO: Eritrea says it has arrested members of a terrorist network, allegedly backed by Sudan, intent on assassinating Eritrea's president. The Sudanese government is calling the claim a fabrication, and says it would welcome an international inquiry. Raymond Thibodeaux has this report from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi.

TEXT: Eritrea and Sudan have accused each other for years of supporting rebel movements aimed at toppling each other's government. The common border between the countries was closed last year, amid increasing tension.

Late Wednesday, Eritrea accused Sudan of backing a terrorist network plotting to kill Eritrea's president, Isaias Afwerki, and attack civilians.

President Afwerki's chief of staff, Yemane Gebremeskal, declined to comment on the details of the arrests or the terrorist network to which the suspects allegedly belonged. But he said Eritrea had no plans to meet with Sudanese officials to discuss ways to reduce bilateral tensions.

Sudan's Foreign Ministry said late Thursday it would welcome an international inquiry into Eritrea's allegations that the Sudanese government was behind the alleged plot against President Afwerki.

Osman Al-Sayed, Sudan's representative to the African Union, speaking from Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, denies that such a network exists, and attributes this latest accusation to instability within Eritrea's government.

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"The Eritrean president unfortunately is having assassination phobia. This is not the first time for the president of Eritrea to accuse Sudan about [of] attempting to assassinate him, and it's not going to be the last."

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Ross Herbert, Africa specialist for South Africa's Institute of International Affairs, says Eritrea's assassination claim is part of a pattern by President Afwerki, once lauded for his commitment to democracy, after his country won its independence from Ethiopia in 1991. Since then, Mr. Afwerki has shelved the country's constitution, delayed presidential elections, closed down independent media and jailed hundreds of journalists, opposition politicians and university professors.

Mr. Herbert was reached in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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"I think the Eritrean leader has not wanted to cede any control to anybody. And even people who are luminaries in the revolutionary struggle are now sitting in jail, because he hasn't wanted to lessen his autocratic grip. So, one could argue that this [the assassination claim] is part of justifying his hard line and his tight control."

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Adding to the tension is Sudan's close relationship with Ethiopia, a country which fought a two-year border war with Eritrea. Nearly four years after that war ended, the border is still in dispute. (SIGNED)

NEB/RT/TW/MAR