Eritrea's neighbours have welcomed its decision to return to the East African body, Igad - a move seen as a possible attempt bid to end years of isolation. The UN last week accused Eritrea of plotting to bomb January's African Union summit in Addis Ababa - a charge it denied. It also rejects charges it smuggles weapons to Somalia's Islamist al-Shabab group. Analysts say the move could be aimed at avoiding a tightening of UN sanctions. These were imposed in 2009 over Eritrea's alleged backing for al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda. The BBC's Noel Mwakugu in Nairobi says that rejoining Igad (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development) gives Eritrea a platform to lobby against the imposition of further diplomatic measures. Igad's executive secretary Mahboub Maalim wrote to Eritrea's Foreign Minister Osman Saleh to welcome his country's "bold decision". "I am confident that the Igad member states, the Igad development partners and all Igad stakeholders will be delighted to see Eritrea back in the Igad family fold," he said. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 but the two countries soon fell out and fought a 1998-2000 war over their disputed border. Eritrea accuses the West of not putting sufficient pressure on US ally Ethiopia to respect an international commission's finding that it should withdraw from the town of Badme, which sparked the war. It pulled out of Igad in 2007 after the body - made up of Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia - backed Ethiopia's intervention to oust an Islamist precursor of al-Shabab from power in Mogadishu. Eritrea has also cut links with international aid agencies and denies UN reports that it is suffering from the drought which has hit East Africa. Source: BBC