Mohammed Said Nasser, the businessman who was put under house arrest after being imprisoned for ten days (Gedab, April 29), has escaped to freedom and is now in Khartoum, Sudan.  

Reached by phone, Mohammed Said informed our reporter that the last arrest had been his third in 12 months.  The jail terms ranged between ten to forty-five days.  In each case, explained Mohammed Said, the detention was followed by house arrests.

"No one can do any business while alternating residences between prisons and house arrests," said Mohammed Said.

The businessman had returned to Eritrea intending to participate in the development of the nation. In a joint partnership with investors from Arab Gulf, his firm, Setit General Trading (SGT) had committed to invest USD 7 million on the Asmara water supply project for the Asmara Municipality. The ruling party's economic arm, Red Sea (09), offered to partner with SGT; when he declined the offer, he was accused of being "a corrupt businessman who didn�t pay taxes�.

In a bitter voice, Mr. Mohammed Said explained that Eritrea has become a country where only those �who are totally aligned or in partnership with the PFDJ businesses can survive.�

Mr. Mohammed Said Nasser escaped through Tessenei, a town close to the Sudanese border in Western Eritrea.