Eritrea Denies Supporting Somalia's Al Shabaab Extremists

 Eritrea Denies Supporting Somalia's Al Shabaab Extremists

KAMPALA -(Dow Jones)- Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki, on a state visit to Uganda, has denied that his country supports the al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab extremists, who have been blamed for orchestrating an insurgency in Somalia in recent years. Afewerki said during a joint press briefing Thursday with his host, President Yoweri Museveni, that the allegations are "fabrications, assumptions and innuendos." "President Afewerki assured Ugandans that Eritrea does not support the al Shabaab terrorists who are only bent on causing chaos in Somalia," the Ugandan presidency said in a statement. Last month, the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia accused Eritrea of supporting the al Shabaab in Somalia, where Ugandan troops are leading an African Union peacekeeping mission. The al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the July 2010 terror attacks in Uganda that left 79 people dead. Afewerki said the main concern for the region is for Somalia to be reconstituted after two decades of destruction in order to make the al Shabaab irrelevant. Afewerki arrived in Uganda on Tuesday and political analysts say that the visit is important as Eritrea seeks to mend fences and end its international isolation. The U.N. has imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea and has in the past accused the country of violating an arms embargo on Somalia. Somalia has been without an effective central government for at least two decades following the toppling of former President Mohamed Siad Barre, making the lawless country a haven for terrorists, pirates and illegal arm dealers. -By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk