Asmara — President Isaias Afwerki said that the deliberate Security Council accusation that 'Eritrea is arming the Ashebab Somali group is a baseless slander designed to escape responsibility and achieve a solution.

In an interview with Egyptian State Television, the President indicated that any statements issued by the Security Council could not be taken as sacred quotations from the Holy Books, and that the prevailing problem in Somalia mainly emanates from the failure and mistakes of the United Nations, especially the Security Council to fulfill its obligation. Stating that the Council is not entitled to bypass law and legality in violation of the UN Charter and international law, he underlined that the Security Council itself and its illegal practices is the one that is not only violating the independence and sovereignty of a member state, i.e. Somalia, but also prolonging the suffering of the Somali people.

President Isaias further pointed out that Eritrea does not support one party against another, besides not interfering in Somalia's internal affairs. Eritrea's support is for the just Somali issue and the Somali people, and that this is both its legal and moral obligation, he elaborated.

The President went on to explain that the vacuum created in Somalia due to the Security Council's historical errors is becoming the source and ground for piracy and other illegal activities. If peace and stability is to prevail in the region through resolving such malaises, the vacuum should be done away with, and that this could only be achieved by creating conducive ground for the Somali people to resolve their issue themselves, he stressed.

Noting that the solution lies in addressing the root cause, and not the consequences, President Isaias indicated that so-called "governments" imposed on the Somali people from the outside which has no authority beyond Mogadishu and its environs is further aggravating the problem. In this connection, he explained that there cannot be any party that could give legitimacy to any "government" apart from the people of Somalia.

On Eritrean-Egyptian relations, the President asserted that there exists political desire on the part of both sides to further enhance the lasting and strategic relations. He also stated that there are a number of issues of mutual concern to the two countries.