Ethiopia on Tuesday accused its bitter rival Eritrea of trying to foment unrest a day after one person was killed and 15 injured in a series of bombings here.
”The wish of the Eritrean government is to see a divided or at least much weakened Ethiopia,” Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said.
”To achieve this goal it is coordinating and mobilising remnants of the Dergue regime, the OLF and its likes,” he added, referring to the ousted regime of ex-dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam and separatist rebel groups.
Meles did not directly accuse Eritrea of planting the bombs which exploded around Addis Ababa on Monday, but he said Ethiopia’s fierce rival was actively trying to ”create hopelessness” in its neighbour.
”The cardinal objective of these forces is to create hopelessness by disrupting our good governance and development efforts that would lead to the destruction of the constitutional order and the unity of the country,” he said.
”They also tried to instigate conflict and bloodshed between those citizens who became instruments of these violent elements … thereby tarnishing the image of our country and creating discord between the people and the government.”
Explosions have become common in the Ethiopian capital in recent months and authorities have heaped blame on separatist rebels from the Oromo Liberation Front and the Somali radical Islamist group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya.
There have also been suspicions that neighbouring Eritrea, with which Ethiopia is engaged in a volatile border stand-off, might bear some responsibility.
The two countries fought a war from 1998 to 2000 that cost at least 80 000 lives and tensions remain acute.
Earlier this month three grenades exploded in Addis Ababa, injuring four people. Police accused Eritrea of supplying the grenades and helping ”terrorists” explode them, a charge denied by Asmara as ”outrageous”.
In January two grenades were thrown at a bank and a hospital, causing damage but no injuries. – AFP
