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DATE=6/11/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-250529
TITLE=ETHIOPIA / ERITREA (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=RICHARD ENGEL
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 
INTRO:  IN EAST AFRICA, FIGHTING BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA 
CONTINUED FRIDAY FOR A SECOND DAY.  RICHARD ENGEL REPORTS FROM 
THE V-O-A EAST AFRICA BUREAU IN NAIROBI THAT THE HOSTILITIES COME
AFTER A BRIEF LULL IN THE YEAR-LONG WAR, WHICH HAS CLAIMED TENS 
OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES.
TEXT:  THE GOVERNMENTS OF BOTH ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA SAY THERE HAS
BEEN HEAVY FIGHTING ALONG THEIR DISPUTED BORDER.  HOWEVER, BOTH 
GOVERNMENTS DENY INITIATING THIS NEW ROUND OF HOSTILITIES.
ERITREA, IN A STATEMENT RECEIVED BY V-O-A IN NAIROBI, ACCUSED 
ETHIOPIA OF LAUNCHING TWO ATTACKS IN THE DISPUTED AREA -- THIS, 
AFTER TWO WEEKS OF RELATIVE CALM.  THE STATEMENT SAYS ETHIOPIAN 
MILITARY DIVISIONS ATTACKED TWO LOCATIONS NEAR THE BADME REGION, 
WHERE THE WAR BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS BROKE OUT IN MAY OF 1998.
BUT AN ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON SAID ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS 
LAUNCHED, IN HER WORDS, A COUNTER-OFFENSIVE TO REPULSE THE 
INVASIONS MADE BY ERITREA.
ERITREA'S GOVERNMENT SAID ABOUT 150 ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS WERE 
EITHER KILLED OR WOUNDED IN THE FIGHTING.  THE ERITREAN 
GOVERNMENT DID  NOT  SAY HOW MANY OF ITS OWN SOLDIERS WERE 
KILLED.
THE YEAR-LONG WAR BETWEEN ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA HAS CLAIMED TENS 
OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES.  OBSERVERS SAY SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND 
TROOPS, TANKS AND ARTILLERY PIECES ARE DUG IN ALONG BOTH SIDES OF
THE 800-KILOMETER FRONT LINE.
ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA WERE UNITED UNTIL 1993.  IN FACT, THE 
PRESIDENTS OF THE TWO NATIONS FOUGHT TOGETHER FOR MORE THAN 16 
YEARS AGAINST ETHIOPIA'S DICTATOR MENGISTU HAILE MARIAM.  BUT THE
FORMER REBELS -- WHO ARE NOW IN CHARGE OF THE GOVERNMENTS IN 
ADDIS ABABA AND ASMARA -- LATER TURNED AGAINST EACH OTHER.
THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE DIPLOMATIC PROGRESS TO STOP THE WAR. FORMER
U-S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER ANTHONY LAKE HAS VISITED BOTH 
CAPITALS SEVERAL TIMES.  ATTEMPTS AT REGIONAL MEDIATION AND 
EFFORTS BY THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY HAVE ALSO FAILED TO 
RESOLVE THE DISPUTE.
ANALYSTS SAY THE RECENT BATTLES COULD MARK THE BEGINNING OF A 
PERIOD OF RENEWED HEAVY FIGHTING.  ANALYSTS SAY THEY EXPECT AT 
LEAST ONE MAJOR BATTLE BEFORE THE RAINY SEASON BEGINS NEXT MONTH.
 (SIGNED)
NEB/RHE/GE/WTW
11-Jun-99 12:15 PM EDT (1615 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.