ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki on Thursday voiced hope that US president-elect Barack Obama would change his country's policy in the Horn of Africa, a region blighted by conflicts.
In a letter to Obama, Isaias expressed his "warmest congratulations" for his election victory.
He also conveyed "ardent hope that US policy in our region will indeed change under your excellency's presidency to pursue a constructive path to advance the causes of regional peace, justice and legality."
Ties between the two nations have been frosty over the past few years, with Eritrea accusing the US of backing its arch-foe Ethiopia in a long-running border dispute.
Washington has accused Eritrea of backing Islamist groups in Somalia, an allegation denied by the small African nation.
Last year, the US State Department included Eritrea alongside Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Zimbabwe on its list of "the world's most systematic human rights violators."
In addition, the US placed an arms ban on Eritrea in October after allegations that it was supporting "terrorists" in Somalia, feared to be a future haven for extremist groups.
And when Eritrea banned the United States Agency for International Development from operating in the country in 2007 and also imposed curbs on US diplomats, Washington closed Eritrea's consulate in Oakland, California.
Eritrea has called for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, who under US-backing, are in Mogadishu to supporting up the ineffective transitional government against Islamic extremist fighters.
The United States has also warned Eritrea to resolve another border dispute, with Djibouti.
Last month the US Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad warned Eritrea that if it failed to resolve the dispute peacefully the UN would have to take "appropriate action."
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