Eritrea dismisses reports of clashes with Yemeni forces
Text of report in English by Yemeni newspaper Yemen Observer web
site on 30 November
Sana'a ,Dec 01, 2004: The embassy of Eritrea
in Sana'a dismissed news reports that armed clashes had taken place between
Yemeni and Eritrean naval forces in the vicinity of the Hanish archipelago as
"baseless and fabricated" in a press release distributed yesterday.
The embassy
affirmed that Eritrean naval forces had not trespassed on Yemeni territorial
waters, and noted that the bilateral ties between the two governments are
excellent and are witnessing fruitful cooperation in different fields.
Meanwhile, the
website of 26 September, published by the Yemeni armed forces, quoted an
official source at the Ministry of Defence as also refuting reports that
intermittent confrontations had occurred offshore near Hanish between the two countries'
naval forces.
On Friday [26
November], military sources in the western city of Al-Hudaydah told opposition
paper Al-Sahwa, on condition of anonymity, that sporadic clashes had recently
flared up near those islands between the two states' forces. The sources
accused Eritrean forces of violating Yemeni territorial waters and firing at
Yemeni troops positioned in the archipelago.
Col Abd-al-Hamid
Al-Nahari, commander of the western Yemeni islands, declined comment on the
clashes, but told Al-Sahwa that no casualties were reported among the Yemeni
troops stationed on Hanish.
Unlimited, high
