Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia: Eritrea is the source of problems in the African horn

The two Yemeni and Sudanese presidents, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and Omar Hassan al-Bashir, and the Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi, who signed yesterday in Addis Ababa a treaty to found the "Sanaa coalition" denounced Eritrea, and considered it the source of "problems " in the African horn.

The three leaders in a break during their tripartite summit, whose deliberations were opened Monday morning, where they had signed a tripartite cooperation agreement under the name "Sanaa coalition," aims to increase political and economic cooperation among the three countries.

Al-Bashir said: it is not a secret that Eritrea's desire lies in destabilizing Sudan, through arming and training the rebels, and through sending them to our lands. He added that Eritrea "provides supplies to the rebels and treat the wounded in the Sudanese area of Darfour, where fighters of the Sudan's liberation movement fight the government's forces."

Zenawi supported al-Bashir's statement, saying " Actually Eritrea suffers problems with all its neighbors." He stressed replying to a question that Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen did not form an alliance "against Asmara. He added that "forming an alliance against a small country is not in our account. Every and each member in our coalition can individually withstand Eritrea."

Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have intensified over the demarcation of joint borders following the border conflict between the two countries netween 1998 to 2000. The Yemeni president announced that "Eritrea suffers problems with its neighbors, and the only means to solution lies in the dialogue rather than confrontation."

The three leaders met in Sanaa in 2002 and discussed means of increasing cooperation among their respective countries.