Asmara, (insidesomalia.org) - Confidential reports we obtained from sources close to the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia ARS say that the reason for the dispute between the alliance and the Eritrean government is that the Eritrean president embezzled large sums of money from the alliance.

The reports state that senior members of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia had asked Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki to supply them with weapons to fight Ethiopian troops, particularly weapons capable of penetrating tanks, but he turned down their request.

Subsequently, they [ARS leaders] visited some countries of the world in search of cash and secured large sums of money. They handed the Eritrean president $10 million to use it to purchase arms for them, specifically antitank weapons, on the international market.

The Eritrean president is said to have pocketed the money and did not use it to buy any weapons. He instead offered to train their ARS leaders' fighters and provide additional light arms, but they rejected this. That is said to have triggered the rifts between senior members of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia and the Eritrean government.

The chairman of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia chairman has clearly criticized and condemned the Eritrean government, although he did not give the cause of the rifts. It is unknown whether the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia Chairman Shaykh Sharif and Sharif Hasan, the head of the central council of the alliance, both of whom left Eritrea, will attend a meeting of members of the alliance slated for 15 of this month in Asmara

Other reports say that members of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia who are currently in Asmara cannot leave Eritrea after President Isayas Afewerki ordered that they are his hostages. However, the truthfulness of this matter has not been established yet.