Eritrea: Land ofCan-Do People!

ERI-NEWS

National Service: A toolfor EconomicDevelopment, National
Cohesion and theDefence of Sovereignty

Bi-Weekly Newsletter
Permanent Mission of the State of Eritrea to AU
and UNECA
Press Section
Vol 4. Issue 61

President Isaias Sent Message to Heads of State and Government
President Isaias Afwerki sent a message
to several Heads of State and Government on the advent of the New Yearonce again drawing their attention tocontinued injustices meted to Eritrea.
The President underlined that suchindefensible acts not only contravene
fundamental tenets of international law
and morality but are also fraught withperilous threats to regional peace andsecurity.
Recalling that 14 years have elapsed
since the adoption of the EritreaEthiopia Boundary Commission rulingon the border delimitation and demarcation, the President pointed out thatsovereign Eritrean territories still
remain under occupation. In thisconnection, he called on the leaders toensure the respect of the rule of law.

the UN in the past and as such they
deserve redress and reparations for thewrongs done and not the continued
unjustified punishment.
In regard to the illegal and unfair
sanctions against Eritrea, the President
noted that the unjustifiable sanctions
were passed deceitfully on fabricatedcharges which had no basis on law orfacts. President Isaias stressed that themain purpose of the sanctions was todeflect international attention from theoccupation of sovereign Eritrean
territories and thereby corner Eritrea
from advocating its legitimate rights.

12 January 2017
Inside this issue:

President Isaias
Held Talks with 2
Abu Dhabi Crown
PrincePresident Isaias
Received Kenya’s 2Foreign Minister
Asharq Al-Awsat:
Distorted News on 3Eritrea

President Isaias underlined that thecontinued wrong doings against theEritrean people, coupled with theoccupation of sovereign Eritrean
territories constitute harm beyond repaPresident Isaias went on to underline ration and called on the UN Security
that the Eritrean people have been Council to rectify its errors without
wronged several times at the hands of further delay.
Contact Addresses:
Tel: +251-116620052
Fax:+251-116620011
Email:eritreanaumission@
gmail.com
P.o.Box: 5527
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Eritrean Mission toAU& ECA@EritreaAU

Vol 4. Issue 61, 12 January 2017

Page 2Eri-News

President Isaias Held Talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
During a three-day working visit to the United ArabEmirates (UAE), President Isaias Afwerki met andheld talks, on January 2, with Sheikh Mohamed bin
Zayed AlNahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and
Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE ArmedForces. In the course of the meeting, the two sides
discussed ways of reinforcing relations between thetwo countries.
President Isaias and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed AlNahyan held discussion focusing on ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in political, economic andother spheres as well as advancing bilateral ties tonew heights. The two leaders also exchanged viewson various regional and international issues of mutual
concern to both countries.

President Isaias Received Kenya’s Foreign Minister
President Isaias Afwerki received and held talks, on
10 January 2017, with Ambassador Amina Mohamed,
Kenya’s Foreign Minister and candidate for the postof Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

The President underlined the need for the enhancement and revitalization of the African Union to ensurethat the African continent holds its rightful place inthe world. President Isaias further emphasized theurgency for both the African Union and the regionalorganizations (RECs) such as IGAD to get their acts
together to advance the widely shared objectives of
the continent’s economic integration.

President Isaias and Ambassador Amina Mohamed
also discussed in detail the status of the bilateral ties
between the two sisterly countries. In this regard,
President Isaias underscored the need for Kenya toplay its due role in the Horn of Africa.

Vol 4. Issue 61, 12 January 2017

Page 3Eri-News

Asharq Al-Awsat: Distorted News on Eritrea
In the past few days, the London-based AsharqAl-Awsat has published - in its Arabic and English
editions - a number of distorted “news stories” onEritrea.
To embellish and rationalize the TPLF’s continued
flouting of international law and its occupation ofsovereign Eritrean lands, the paper gullibly parrots
mendacious pronouncements of the regime’s newForeign Minister who claims, with a straight face,that his government “has long accepted the EritreaEthiopia Boundary Commission ruling on Badme”.
Asharq Al-Awsat could have easily checked literature available in the public domain that illustrate,
without any equivocation, that the EEBC had
announced its “final and binding” delimitation
decisions in April 2002 and deposited the demarcation coordinates with the UN Cartographic Unit in2007. Ethiopia’s rejection of these decisions andoccupation to-date of sovereign Eritrean lands is thus
a flagrant violation of international law and its peace
treaty obligations as stipulated in the Algiers PeaceAgreement. Mincing words or resorting to deceitful
packaging cannot alter this reality.
In another lengthy but shallow “opinion piece” by acertain Abdulrahman Al-Rashid, Asharq Al-Awsat
again goes out of its way to shower praise on theTPLF regime as a “dependable” errand boy toadvance US military and political agendas in theHorn of Africa region. To highlight this point, theauthor claims: “Ethiopia has succeeded to contain
Somalia by force, unlike Afghanistan, and it
disciplined Eritrea”.

knowledgeable observers of the region. As for Ethiopia “disciplining” Eritrea, the author is either oblivious
to contemporary history or an avid apologist of failed
aggressors.
More importantly, sustainable peace and stability in
the Horn of Africa/Middle East region will not be
achieved through a security architecture that exalts
hegemony and “policing” by selected “anchor states”
to carry out the bidding of extraneous forces.
Security and cooperation frameworks that promoteenduring interests of all the countries and peoples inthis sensitive region must indeed be predicated on
legality and mutual respect of each other’s sovereignty
and territorial integrity. Asharq Al-Awsat can andshould contribute to this objective through impartial
and nuanced reporting and analysis of news and eventsin the region instead of propagating false narratives towhitewash the regime in Ethiopia that finds itselfembroiled in a domestic quagmire of its own making.

Ministry of Information
The mayhem that has afflicted Somalia since
AsmaraEthiopia’s military invasion in 2006 is a matter of
30 December 2016
historical record and widely acknowledged byVol 4. Issue 61, 12 January 2017