Eritrean President: Yemen and Eritrea don't need mediation

SANA'A, Dec. 17, 2004 (Saba) - Eritrean President Isaias Afewerke has denied that there was any mediation that preceded his last visit to Yemen last week.

In an interview with the 26 September weekly, the Eritrean leader said: "There was no mediation. We (Eritrea) and Yemen do not need it."

In a statement to 26 September weekly, he explained that his visit, at the preparation and invitation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was a new step for very strong relations between and Yemen and Eritrea.

"There was some misunderstanding in some sides, some thing that might normally happen within a family," he said.

He hinted that foreign parties could have tried to take advantage of those conditions.

He affirmed that Eritrea has no distinguished relations with Israel and that relations with it were very normal as "an expanse for relations between Ethiopia and Israel" before Eritrean independence.

JW/AA

Resource: SABA

Posted at:
16/12/2004 (09:46pm)