Eritrean exiles prep back-up gov’t for possible downfall of the country’s authoritarian regime
By APTuesday, August 10, 2010
Eritrean exiles prepare for regime’s downfall
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A group of exiled Eritreans say they’re setting up an interim government to serve in case Eritrea’s authoritarian government collapses.
The group said Tuesday they believe Eritrea’s isolated government will fall on its own under the weight of international sanctions. Group member Ali Mohamed Saed Mohammed said the group, which met in the capital of neighboring Ethiopia, is also writing a new constitution.
The U.N. last year slapped tough sanctions and an arms embargo on Eritrea for supplying weapons to Islamic insurgents in Somalia and for refusing to resolve a border dispute with neighboring Djibouti.
The coastal Horn of Africa nation has also twice fought former ruler Ethiopia since gaining independence. President Isaias Afwerki took power at independence in 1993.
