ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accused Eritrea
on Saturday of
sowing havoc in the region as Addis Ababa reiterated
calls for sanctions over Asmara's alleged support for Somalia's rebels.
"It is going on and on with its creating havoc agenda. The character of this regime is not changing," Meles told parliament.
He
said that Ethiopia has done its best to establish a dialogue with its
former foe, with which it fought a 1998-2000 border war that left more
than 80,000 dead.
"We believe in dialogue, we have actually knocked on the door many times and they haven't responded," he said.
Ethiopia
accuses Eritrea of backing Islamist rebels fighting to overthrow the
Somali transitional government, which Ethiopia is helping to prop up.
Eritrea denies the accusations.
The African Union and the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a six-nation
regional grouping, have also called for sanctions against Asmara in
recent months.
"The evidence (of Eritrea's involvement) is
definitive, the need (for sanctions) is undeniable," Ethiopia's foreign
ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
"Every day the crisis
worsens. Neither the region as a whole, nor Somalia in particular, can
afford the consequences of failure. Peace and security issues affect
domestic as well as regional considerations and all the IGAD states
need a solution in Somalia, and quickly."
