Eritrea says US terror blacklisting was 'erroneous', welcomes removal

Eritrea says the May 29 lifting of security related blacklisting by the United States government was welcome despite being an erroneous move in the first place.

The BBC quoted Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel as saying the “categorisation was erroneous” in the first place, before adding that Asmara viewed today’s move as a case of being “better late than never.”

“Eritrea’s track record on fighting terrorism has been impeccable throughout the past decades,” he said.

Washington classed Eritrea under its list of Counterterror Non-Cooperation nations in May 2017. Eritrea was the only African country listed at the time.

The US based its decision on allegations of Eritrean government support for Somalia-based insurgent group, al-Shabab. The US is actively involved in combating the group listed as a terrorist organisation under its laws.

The quartet of nations that remain on the said list are: Iran, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela.

Observers had largely held that dropping Eritrea from the list was only a matter of time especially after the United Nations Security Council, UNSC, voted to lift targeted sanctions on Eritrea over similar allegations.

At the time, it took a shift in position by the US – a permanent member of the UNSC, to allow for the sanctions to be lifted. Eritrea demanded an apology from the UN body over what it said was baseless and unfair sanctions.