Eritrea Calls Plan to Indict Sudanese President an `Insult’
July 22, 2008 (ASMARA) — The Eritrean government has rejected accusations by the prosecutor of the international Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese president, Omer al-Bashir describing it as an “insult”.
On Monday July 14, The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges to issue arrest warrants for Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Judges are expected to take months to study the evidence before deciding whether to order al-Bashir’s arrest.
“This phenomenon, which can only be interpreted as an “insult”, is a manifestation of the harassment that has been accumulating.” The Eritrean foreign ministry said in a statement released today.
“As such it must be rejected and challenged.” The statement added.
Speaking to the Eritrean TV, the Sudanese Ambassador to Eritrea, Salah Mohamed al-Hassan, praised the supportive stance of Asmara government to the Sudanese president. He further said that it comes in line with the historical relations between the people of the two countries.
Al-Hassan further said that this move of the ICC prosecutor is designed to undermine peace security and development in Sudan.
Demonym Eritrean Government Provisional government
- President Isaias Afewerki
Independence
- From Italy November 1941
- From United Kingdom under UN Mandate 1951
- from Ethiopia de facto 24 May 1991
- From Ethiopia de jure 24 May 1993
Area
- Total 117,600 km2 (100th)
45,405 sq mi - Water (%) 0.14%
Population
- 2009 estimate 5,224,000[4] (109th)
- 2008 census 5,291,370
- Density 43.1/km2 (165th)
111.7/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2010 estimate
- Total $3.625 billion[5]
- Per capita $681[5]
GDP (nominal) 2010 estimate
- Total $2.117 billion[5]
- Per capita $397[5]
HDI (2007) steady 0.472 (low) (165th)
Currency Nakfa (ERN)
Time zone EAT (UTC+3)
- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
ISO 3166 code ER
Internet TLD .er
Calling code 291
1 ,. National TV: Eritrea Television (ERI-TV)
Eritrea (play /ˌɛrɨˈtreɪ.ə/ or /ˌɛrɨˈtriːə/;[6] Ge'ez: ኤርትራ ʾErtrā, Arabic: إرتريا Iritrīyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The northeast and east of the country has an extensive coastline on the Red Sea, directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands are part of Eritrea. Eritrea's size is approximately 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi) with an estimated population of 6 million...
Source: Wikipedia
