Eritrea accuses Khartoum of plotting to assassinate president
ASMARA, Oct 18, 2004 (AFP) - Eritrea on Monday accused the Sudanese
leadership of plotting to assassinate President Isaias Afeworki, a
charge last levelled at Khartoum seven years ago.
Khartoum "continues to step up its attempts to disrupt peace and
stability in Eritrea and the region by pursuing its practice of
governmental terrorism and assassination attempts against the
president," Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed said in a
statement, without elaborating.
Eritrean security services made a similar accusation in 1997.
The already strained relations between the neighbouring states
worsened considerably in 2002, when Khartoum accused Asmara of
supporting an offensive by Sudanese rebels on its territory.
The common border has since been closed.
Sudanese opposition groups, some of them armed movements,
occasionally hold meetings in Asmara.
Another cause of strain is Sudan's good relations with Ethiopia,
which fought a border war with Eritrea between 1998 and 2000. The
peace process between Eritrea and Ethiopia has stalled.
Unlimited, high
