Assab considered as aid corridor for Ethiopia

Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki has agreed in principle to allow food aid for Ethiopia to be shipped through the Eritrean port of Assab, despite the countries being at war. The Eritrean foreign ministry on Friday stated that Isayas had responded positively to a request from Hugh Parmer, Assistant Administrator of USAID, to consider allowing Assab be used because the ports of Djibouti and Berbera (Somaliland) would not have adequate capacity for the scale of assistance needed, especially in the months of peak need from July through to September. Assab has considerably more capacity and also has the advantage of geographic proximity. Eritrea “would not, in principle, object to the proposal because of its moral obligation to assist in the international relief efforts to prevent a human catastrophe,” the Eritrean statement said. However, Asmara would request “clear guarantees that the assistance reaches the intended beneficiaries and is not otherwise diverted by the regime for its war purposes,” it added. The next step, if Assab were to be used, would be to have the UN make a formal request to Eritrea, and to establish a technical committee to work out the details, a USAID official told IRIN.