ASMARA — President Isaias Afwerki today held talks at the Denden Hall with a delegation from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that comprises the foreign ministers of Sudan and Kenya, as well as the Executive Secretary of the organization.

In the meeting, the President indicated that Eritrea suspended membership in IGAD in view of the fact that the organization violated of its own resolutions and that of the United Nations. He further pointed out that IGAD’s support to Ethiopia’s Woyanne’s invasion of Somalia, a member state, and its little role in other issues of the region fully attest to the weakness of the organization. President Isaias elaborated that instead of trying to resolve some issues, IGAD has been complicating matters.

Noting that Eritrea from the outset has been supporting regional integration and that it has played active role in reactivating the organization, the President underlined the need for reorganizing IGAD, as it could not achieve its set objectives the way it stands at present.

Stating that if at all this region is to tackle the problems of the people through creating a common market and regional integration, he underscored that peace and security should prevail in the first place. In this regard, President Isaias stressed the need for IGAD not only to get restructured but also introduce a new mechanism. He further asserted that Eritrea supports regional integration even if undertaken through IGAD.

In a press conference he gave at Asmara International Airport, the Kenyan Foreign Minister, Mr. Moses Wetangula, said that the meeting with President Isaias was fruitful and that conducive ground has already been created. He indicated that they have agreed the need to restructure the organization so that the programs of the IGAD Secretariat could correspond with the current wishes and aspirations of the people in the region.

The Kenyan Foreign Minister also noted the significance of Eritrea’s re-joining the organization.

The delegation that includes the Kenyan Foreign Minister, Mr. Moses Wetangula, the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mr. Deng Alor, and the Executive Secretary of IGAD, Eng. Mahbub M. Maalim, arrived here to hold talks on Eritrea’s rejoining in the organization in line with the mission they have been assigned at the IGAD meeting last June.

It is to be recalled that Eritrea suspended membership in IGAD in April 2007.

Source: allAfrica.com