On Friday 8 January 2010, H.E. Tesfamicael Gerahtu, Eritrea 's Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland gave a briefing to local and international media, representatives of various African and Middle Eastern Embassies, as well as civic and political organizations. The briefing was held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in London .

Ambassador Tesfamichael Gerahtu began by addressing the 23 December 2009 UN Security Council Resolution 1907 (2009) that called for sanctions against Eritrea . The SC through Resolution 1907 (2009) accused Eritrea of aiding Somali groups opposed to the Transitional National Government of Somalia. The Council also called on Eritrea to withdraw its forces from the Djibouti-Eritrea border and acknowledge the conflict with Djibouti .

Ambassador Gerahtu addressed SC Resolution 1907, its provisions, its legality as well as its sponsors and its ramifications for peace, stability and security in the already volatile Horn region. Ambassador Gerahtu stressed that the proposed sanctions against the people of Eritrea were not only unjust, but also illegal. He said that the Resolution was passed hastily without any evidence and justification whatsoever.

The Somalia Monitoring Group had previously accused Eritrea of “supplying arms” to those opposing the TFG. This clause was later dropped quietly and the revised version indicts Eritrea of "providing political, financial, and logistical support to armed groups engaged in undermining peace reconciliation in Somalia . Although it was presented as an African Initiative, the Ambassador said it was masterminded by the US , with the UK ’s support. Member States objected to the draft resolution in the early days, but in the end succumbed to Washington ’s pressures.

Ambassador Gerahatu also spoke about the prospects for peace in the Horn of Africa Region, Eritrea ’s nation building agenda, its social, economic and political developments and challenges.

In answering questions about Eritrea’s alleged support of the Al Shabbab group the Ambassador said that Eritrea did not provide any support to the said group and stressed that Eritrea had a moral obligation to help the Somali people and will continue to do so in the future. He said that Eritrea believes it is best to leave the Somali people to resolve their problems by themselves without externa interference.

External interference has only deteriorated the situations in Somalia and unless all Somalis gather around one table to solve their problems there would not be a solution to the present chaos in Somalia . The Ambassador said the Security Council has turned a blind eye whilst the Ethiopian minority junta continues to openly supply arms to various warring factions in Somalia and creates havoc in Somalia .

Ambassador Gerahtu reminded the audience that Eritrea , as one of the earliest victims of Al Qaeda and terrorism in the early 90s, has been fighting the scourge long before September 11 and the US ’ “war of terror”. “ Eritrea has neither the political will nor the financial capability to support armed groups in Somalia ”, he added.

Answering questions relating to the Djibouti-Eritrea issue, the Ambassador said, that it was a US instigated incident designed to create conflict between two-otherwise brotherly nations and its Eritrea ’s desire to resolve the issue bilaterally without external interference. Ambassador Gerahtu said that the Security Council has refused to shoulder its moral and legal obligations in the Eritrea Ethiopia border issue by not enforcing the final and binding Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commissions (EEBC) delimitation and demarcation decisions of 13 April 2002 and 30 November 2007 respectively. The Security Council’s failure to enforce its own resolutions and decisions has emboldened the minority regime in Ethiopia to continue to militarily occupy sovereign Eritrean territories in violation of international law and the United Nations Charter

Answering the question about how the sanctions will hamper any developments in Eritrea, the Ambassador stressed that all development projects will continue to be implemented and Eritrea takes this opportunity to welcome potential investors in the various sectors, including mining.

Full content of H.E Tesfamicael Gerahtu’s briefing is attached.

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