Monday, August 22, 2011



Is Eritrea ready to reform?

analysis by the BBC Africa HYS team 
Eritrea's President Isaias Afewerki concludes his three-day ''peace trip'' to Uganda later on Thursday.










His visit comes at a time when Eritrea is seeking to rejoin the regional development group the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad). The country left Igad in 2007 after the body - made up of Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia - supported Ethiopia's military intervention to back the weak government in Somalia.

But a UN monitoring report released last month accused Eritrea of funding and arming Somalia's Islamist al-Shabab group. Eritrea has denied this, claiming it is propaganda aimed at discrediting it in the region. 

Meanwhile, human rights groups say Eritrea's regime is authoritarian and militarised with no tolerance for opposition or dissent.  

Do you think Eritrea is ready to change? As analysts say Eritrea  wants to rebuild regional ties, should its neighbours be willing to build bridges? Should Eritrea be re-admitted to Igad? If you are in Eritrea, or an Eritrean abroad, what is your view? And if you are from a different African country, would you like your president to receive the Eritrean president? 

If you would like to debate this topic LIVE on air on Thursday 18 August at 1600 GMT, please include a telephone number. It will not be published.

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