It is not about Italy and Eritrea, it is about one man

Eritrean official Semere Russom

In the letter the EU criticised Eritrea for human rights violations, following the arrest of 11 dissidents, the closure of the private press and the detention of at least eight journalists.

Semere Russom, director of European affairs at the Eritrean foreign ministry, told BBC News Online that Mr Bandini had been interfering in the internal politics of Eritrea which was incompatible with his diplomatic status.

The Italian ambassador, like several other western ambassadors, had contact with the dissidents whilst they were still in office.

Since their dismissal, all the ambassadors held one joint meeting to hear the dissidents postion. It is possible that these contacts were considered provocative and displeased the government.

Slap in face

However, since the expulsion took place shortly after the EU demarche,�some�diplomats are seeing it as a slap in the face to the EU as a whole.

Mr Semere was at pains to deny this, and reassure the EU.

The war in Eritrea has cost the country dear

"His expulsion was a personal matter, and was not linked to the presentation of the EU demarche," he said.

He stressed that "Eritrea's historic relations and ties of friendhip with Italy should�not be affected. It is not about Italy and Eritrea, it is about one man."

Mr Semere said that the Eritrean Government had asked Italy some two to three weeks ago to recall the ambassador discreetly, but they had not responded in time.

Aid risk

The economic implications for Eritrea are considerable.

The reaction of the Italian Government is crucial, as the EU is likely to take its lead from Rome on this issue.

Many Eritreans are dependent on aid

Italy is the largest single donor to Eritrea, a country which is asking for hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from its war with Ethiopia.

Italy�and Eritrea were scheduled to discuss the next three�years of Italian development aid later this�month. It is unlikely to take place now.�

A week before the clampdown began, Eritrea has been asking for $197m for its crucial demobilisation and re-integration programme alone.

According to diplomatic sources, pledges at a donor conference three weeks ago were about $60m short of the target.

Previously, there were even expectations that Italy might contribute more to make up some of the shortfall.

Bad timing

A concerted hard-line from the EU countries could lead to a freezing of almost all development projects in Eritrea.

This would leave Eritrea's demobilisation programme, and dozens of development projects, in considerable trouble. Though it is unlikely that humanitarian assistance will end.

From a diplomatic point of view, the timing of the expulsion could not have been worse, as representatives from the EU countries were meeting in Brussels to discuss African affairs.

All eyes are now turned to Rome and Brussels to await reaction.