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DATE=3/14/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-246597
TITLE=ETHIOPIA / ERITREA FIGHTING (L)
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 
INTRO:  ERITREA SAYS ETHIOPIA HAS REOPENED THEIR BORDER WAR WITH 
A NEW ATTACK SUNDAY MORNING.  AS V-O-A'S SCOTT STEARNS REPORTS, 
MEDIATORS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA ARE STILL TRYING TO SETTLE THE 
BORDER DISPUTE.
TEXT:  ERITREA SAYS ETHIOPIAN TROOPS LAUNCHED A LARGE-SCALE 
OFFENSIVE ABOUT 8 AM, LOCAL TIME, ON THE WESTERN TSORONA FRONT.  
A FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT SAYS THERE IS FIGHTING FROM THE 
TOWN, ALITENA, NORTH TO THE BORDER.
IT SAYS ETHIOPIA'S ARMY AND AIR FORCE SPENT TWO HOURS SATURDAY 
AFTERNOON PREPARING FOR THE ATTACK BY SHELLING AND BOMBING 
ERITREAN POSITIONS.
ETHIOPIA SAYS THERE HAS BEEN WHAT IT CALLS "USUAL CROSS-BORDER 
SHELLING" SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, BUT IT SAYS THERE IS NO NEW 
OFFENSIVE BY ETHIOPIAN GROUND TROOPS.
THE BORDER HAS BEEN RELATIVELY CALM SINCE ETHIOPIA RETOOK GROUND 
AROUND BADAME, TWO WEEKS AGO.  THAT FORCED ERITREA INTO ACCEPTING
AN ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY PLAN TO ARBITRATE THE BORDER 
DISPUTE.
BUT ETHIOPIA SAYS ERITREA IS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT THAT PLAN BECAUSE 
IT CONTINUES TO OCCUPY TERRITORY THAT WAS ADMINISTERED BY 
ETHIOPIA BEFORE FIGHTING BEGAN LAST MAY.
THAT INCLUDES GROUND ON THE TSORONA FRONT, WHICH ETHIOPIA HAS 
THREATENED TO RETAKE BY FORCE IF ERITREA DOES NOT WITHDRAW.
ERITREA SAYS THE O-A-U PLAN CALLS FOR BOTH SIDES TO PULL BACK 
THEIR TROOPS AND DEMILITARIZE THE BORDER AHEAD OF AN 
INTERNATIONAL MONITORING FORCE FOR DISPUTED AREAS.  A PANEL WOULD
DECIDE THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE FRONTIER WITHIN SIX MONTHS.
BY DEMANDING THE WITHDRAWAL OF ERITREA'S TROOPS FIRST, ERITREA 
SAYS ETHIOPIA HAS EFFECTIVELY TORPEDOED THE O-A-U PLAN BY ADDING 
NEW PRECONDITIONS.  ERITREA SAYS SUNDAY'S ATTACK SHOWS ETHIOPIA'S
DEFIANCE OF UNITED NATIONS CALL FOR A CEASEFIRE.
ETHIOPIA SAYS IT HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITS TERRITORIAL 
INTEGRITY, AFTER TEN MONTHS OF WHAT IT CALLS ERITREAN OCCUPATION.
ETHIOPIA SAYS IT IS STILL COMMITTED TO THE O-A-U PLAN BUT MUST 
SEE CONCRETE EVIDENCE OF ERITREA'S SERIOUSNESS BEFORE AGREEING TO
TALKS. (SIGNED) 
NEB / SS / DW / WD
14-Mar-99 6:29 AM EST (1129 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.