DATE=3/22/99
TYPE=CORESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-246970
TITLE=ETHIOPIA / ERITREA FIGHTING (L)
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THERE IS MORE FIGHTING BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA. AS
VOA'S SCOTT STEARNS REPORTS, AFRICAN OFFICIALS MEET TODAY
(MONDAY) TO DISCUSS THE BORDER WAR.
TEXT: THIS ROUND OF FIGHTING ENTERS ITS SECOND WEEK WITH COMBAT
ON THE WESTERN BADAME FRONT. ETHIOPIA SAYS FIGHTING BEGAN PAST
DAWN AND CONTINUED INTO THE DAY IN THE SHAMBIKO AREA ON THE MEREB
RIVER DIVIDING ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA.
ERITREA SAYS IT SHOT DOWN AN ETHIOPIAN FIGHTER JET SUNDAY AFTER
DESTROYING TWO TANKS SATURDAY AND CAPTURING AN ETHIOPIAN
HELICOPTER GUNSHIP FRIDAY. ETHIOPIA DISMISSES THOSE REPORTS AS
"FABRICATIONS."
THAT FOLLOWS A WEEK OF FIGHTING ON THE CENTRAL TSORONA FRONT
ABOUT 160 KILOMETERS EAST OF BADAME. ERITREA SAYS IT KILLED MORE
THAN 10-THOUSAND ETHIOPIANS DURING THAT BATTLE, DESTROYING 57
TANKS IN WHAT IT SAYS WAS A DEVASTATING DEFEAT FOR ETHIOPIA.
ETHIOPIA DENIES THE BATTLEFIELD LOSSES, SAYING FIGHTING ON THE
TSORONA FRONT HAS BEEN "SCALED DOWN."
AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET AT THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN
UNITY MONDAY TO DISCUSS THE WAR. BOTH SIDES HAVE ACCEPTED AN
O-A-U PLAN TO ARBITRATE THE DISPUTE BUT EACH BLAMES THE OTHER FOR
BLOCKING ITS START.
ERITREA WILL NOT BE REPRESENTED AS THE TALKS ARE AT O-A-U
HEADQUARTERS IN THE ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL, ADDIS ABABA. ERITREA IS
ASKING THAT ALL O-A-U DISCUSSIONS ON THE CONFLICT NOW BE MOVED TO
A NEUTRAL SITE.
IN A LETTER TO THE MINISTERIAL SESSION, ERITREA SAYS IT CANNOT
ARGUE ITS CASE IN THE CAPITAL OF A COUNTRY THAT HAS UNLEASHED A
WAR OF AGGRESSION, REDRAWN INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES, AND DEPORTED
ERITREAN CIVILIANS.
THE FOREIGN MINISTERIAL STATEMENT SAYS ETHIOPIA HAS MADE NEW
PRECONDITIONS ON THE O-A-U PLAN IN AN EFFORT TO TORPEDO THE PEACE
PROCESS. ETHIOPIA'S EMBASSY IN KENYA SAYS THERE ARE NO NEW
PRECONDITIONS, THAT ETHIOPIA IS RESTATING THE LETTER AND SPIRIT
OF O-A-U PROPOSALS IN DEFENDING ITS SOVEREIGN TERRITORY.
ERITREA SAYS IT IS READY TO PULL-BACK ITS FORCES AT THE SAME TIME
AS ETHIOPIA IN KEEPING WITH THE O-A-U PLAN. ETHIOPIA SAYS IF
ERITREA IS SERIOUS ABOUT PEACE, IT MUST FIRST WITHDRAW FROM
TERRITORIES ADMINISTERED BY ETHIOPIA BEFORE FIGHTING BEGAN LAST
MAY.
THE O-A-U PLAN CALLS ON BOTH SIDES TO DEMILITARIZE THE BORDER
AHEAD OF AN INTERNATIONAL MONITORING FORCE FOR DISPUTED AREAS AND
A COMMISSION TO DECIDE THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE BORDER WITHIN
SIX MONTHS.
ERITREA IS QUESTIONING MONDAY'S FIGHTING ON THE BADAME FRONT NEAR
SHAMBIKO SAYING THAT AREA IS WELL WITHIN ERITREA AND IS NOT
CONTESTED TERRITORY. A FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT ASKS IF
ETHIOPIA IS NOT ATTEMPTING TO OCCUPY MORE TERRITORY ACROSS THE
BORDER.
ETHIOPIA SAYS IT HAS NO TERRITORIAL AMBITIONS IN ERITREA,
ASKING HOW ERITREA CAN CONTINUE TO DECEIVE THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY WITH WHAT IT CALLS OBVIOUS AND BLATANT LIES. (SIGNED)
NEB/SS/CB/KL
22-Mar-99 7:17 AM EST (1217 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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