What is Alamin Mohammed Sied doing in Sudan. There is too much talk about his interview with the Television in Sudan or Al Jazeera? Mukhtar Ibrahim Nur
Really, nothing important happened. The AlJazeera Interview was with Isaias and I don't have the full script. The Sudanese TV interview was with Alamin Moh'd Said and Abdella Adam, the PFDJ Ambassador in Khartoum. And this is what happened: On 6 Jul 2002, Mr. Alamin Mohammed Seid, the Secretary of Eritreas ruling party, PFDJ, and Mr. Abdella Adem, the Eritrean Ambassador to the Sudan, gave an interview to the Arabic satellite Network - TV-Sudan. In response to the reporters question regarding the Eritrean governments reputation for its riotous approach in the region, Mr. Alamin Mohammed Seid dismissed the claim and stated that Eritrea, a country of three and half million, is not capable of destabilizing the region. Regarding the frosty relations between Eritrea and Sudan, the Secretary laid the blame squarely on the Sudan, attributing it to the internal problems of the Sudanese government. He did not explain why Eritrea is going ahead to re-establish old ties with the Sudan even though Sudans internal problems are still unresolved. Additionally, Mr. Alamin Mohammed Seid stated that "all border conflicts in the region have been resolved in the world court system, without mentioning that this option was available to Eritrea before the conflict with Ethiopia starteda conflict, which cost Eritrea a huge amount of human and material losses. The reporter asked Mr. Alamin Mohammed why the Eritrean leadership promotes claims that it is the victim of a conspiracy hatched by the Arab countries, the neighboring countries and world organizations. The Secretary was visibly nervous and could not provide an answer. Instead he latched on the perception that many have over Eritrea - that Eritrea is a troublemaker in the region. For his part, and in response to the reporters question, Mr. Abdella Adem, the Ambassador to the Sudan, re-iterated the Eritrean presidents pronouncement that the existence of the opposition parties is insignificant and that some of them are in fact terrorists. This hard-line position struck many observers as uncharacteristic of Mr. Abdella Adem, who had been frozen during 2000-2002 for alleged sympathies to the G-13, the Eritrean academics and professionals who wrote a critical letter to the President in October 2000. |
