Ethiopia says foiled Eritrean-backed attack

Fri 2 Feb 2007 5:00 AM ET

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 2 (Reuters)

Ethiopia foiled an Eritrean-backed attack that had targeted the African Union summit attended by some 40 heads of states in Addis Ababa this week, an Ethiopian police statement said on Friday.

The two Horn of Africa neighbours are embroiled in a dispute over a border ruling by an independent boundary commission that sets out their common 1,000 km (620 mile) frontier.

Relations between the two deteriorated further when Ethiopia sent troops and weaponry to help Somalia's interim government rout rival Islamists, who Washington and the United Nations say were backed by Eritrea.

Asmara denies the accusation.

"An attempt to launch a series of of terrorist attacks masterminded by senior officials of the Asmara regime and Eritrean explosive experts have successfully been aborted," a police statement said.

"Ethiopia's anti-terrorist task force apprehended all perpetrators of the intended terrorist acts with their explosives and other accessories just ahead of the summit," it added without giving more information.

Eritrean officials were not immediately available for comment.

Ethiopian police said they would make public details of the alleged attempted attack once an investigation was completed.

"The Eritrean regime resorted to such evil attempts when it became alienated from the international community owing to its role in backing and supporting terrorist groups in Somalia," the statement said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer earlier this week described Eritrea as a "source of regional instability".

One of the issues dominating the two-day AU summit held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa was the question of a peacekeeping force for Somalia to replace Ethiopian soldiers.