By Woldeberhan T.

For a country of its size and an economy just as vulnerable and in shambles, Eritrea is probably the only country in the world which has so far been successful in keeping its neighbors and the international community apprehensive of its unpredictable modus operandi.

If one were to describe the Horn as a gear system, then Eritrea, by choice, has taken up the role of a wedge that has kept that system from working properly.

A mere seventeen years since it got its independence from Ethiopia, its sphere of involvement in the internal affairs of other countries has extended from as close as Ethiopia, to as far as Somalia that does not share common borders with it, and Sri Lanka which is not even in the same continent.

Eritrea under the leadership of President Isaias Afwerki has made a name for itself as a host, financer and supporter of rebel and separatist groups such as the ONLF and OLF (Ethiopia), United Front for Liberation and Development (UFLD), an alliance of some five rebel groups (Sudan), the Union of Islamic Courts and Al-Shabbab in Somalia, and the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka.

Once dubbed as one of the progressive leaders in Africa, President Isaias Afwerki has turned the country with a population of close to 5,000,000 people into a police state, by forcefully enlisting into the military every male and female that has or has not come of age.

Eritrea, that “despises” western aid and mocks those who receive it, relies heavily on remittance. It spends over 65 million dollars of that on military budget, and still manages to provide military assistance, including troops to other movements.

One is bound to ask how it can afford to do all this when it can not even sufficiently provide basic services to its population.

The answer? It seeks those who share, support or complement its vision of destabilizing and weakening its strong and larger neighbors, or those that harbor negative sentiments against the West and allied nations. In return Eritrea's leadership does the job that men like Charles Taylor and Foday Sankoh once used to do as henchmen for those who trained and helped bring them to power.

Eritrea's leadership is grabbing world attention for its ruthless clandestine operations fit for Hollywood movie scripts - a mysterious aviation company that transports arms and troops to and from Somalia, Libya, Syria, Lebanon..., filing of false flight plans, fake registration numbers and call signs, a general who goes by the pseudonym, (Some allege it is the president  himself)...

A UN report in 2006 said Eritrea was the principal clandestine source and conduit for arms supplies to the Al-Shabbab of Somalia whose leader was killed on Thursday. Al-Shabbab has established links with Al-Qaeda.

A few other Arab and African countries were also named as soliciting the services of the regime in Eritrea.

Asmara also has made no attempts to hide the fact that it is hosting individuals who are wanted for their involvement in terror activities.

The likes of Hassan Dahir Aweys of the ousted Union of Islamic Courts and a one-time head of the Al-Itihad Al-Islamiya that declared Jihad on Ethiopia, and Tamil leader Velupillai Prabakaran are personal guests and friends of president Isaias.

Late last month Ethiopia broke off its diplomatic ties with Qatar, on grounds that the latter's support for Eritrea, Somali militant groups and Ethiopian rebel groups, aiming towards the destabilization of Ethiopia, was no more tolerable.

"...ONLF issued a statement criticizing Ethiopia for breaking relations with Qatar even before the Government of Qatar managed to do so. The ONLF, of course, has an office in Doha. ....Qatar is providing $150,000 a month to the ONLF, passing these funds through Eritrea where ONLF forces have been regularly receiving training for the past eighteen months. This is in addition to the large-scale backing, both financial and political, that Qatar has regularly provided to Eritrea, which is currently a centre for support of regional terrorist organizations, including Al-[Shabbab] in Somalia, the ONLF, and the OLF in Ethiopia as well as other organizations involved in armed struggle against both Ethiopia and other countries in the region," the Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Quatar, which hosts such radical figures as the Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a radical Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, has dismissed Ethiopia's accusations as baseless.

Despite a close relation with the United States, Qatari officials are said to have plaid a double game on counter-terrorism, according to American officials and some Qataris who are angry with their own government's actions.

Qatar's own government documents as well as other well-informed sources indicate that not only does Qatar harbor radical elements; it has also allowed a group of Egyptian terrorists to either stay in Qatar or move through the country safely during the mid-1990's.

Ethiopia says that it has substantial evidence to prove its accusations against Qatar, but officials decline to provide details.

Meanwhile, Eritrea continues to further isolate itself from its neighbors and the international community, as its eccentric leadership deals verbal and military blow to all it feels are a threat to it.

Its latest excursion has taken it past the borders of its tiny neighbor Djibouti who now has to deal with trenches being dug some 30 kilometers within its borders. Whose errands Eritrea's regime is running this time around is yet to evolve.

Sankoh was a cameraman before he found his way to a military camp in Libya where he received military training, and Taylor was in a correctional facility in Massachusetts after being convicted of stealing money from Samuel Doe, the then leader of Liberia.

Sanko is dead and Taylor is once again in prison - this time shackled in chains. Time only will tell what the fate of the henchmen in Asmara and Massawa will be.