DATE=10/12/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ETHIOPIA / ERITREA (L)
NUMBER=2-254906
BYLINE=JENNIFER WIENS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Eritrea says Ethiopia is destroying border
villages in the latest violence of their 16-month war.
But as Jennifer Wiens reports from V-O-A's East Africa
bureau, Ethiopia is denying involvement by its troops.
TEXT: Ethiopia says its army is not burning villages
in a disputed area claimed by Eritrea and occupied by
Ethiopia. State-run Radio Ethiopia says Ethiopian
troops had nothing to do with the destruction of the
villages, and called Eritrea's accusation a -- false
claim.
Eritrea has accused Ethiopian troops of destroying six
abandoned villages near the border between the warring
neighbors. The villages are in the Gash Barka zone,
and were occupied by Ethiopia after a major battle
between the two countries in February. Eritrea says
an estimated four-thousand residents fled when the
Ethiopian troops moved in, and the villages have stood
deserted since then.
The Eritrean news agency reported Monday that
Ethiopian troops are burning and tearing down the
empty houses, and that some of the villages have been
completely wiped out.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have been engaged in a fierce
border war that began in June 1998. Thousands of
soldiers from both sides have been killed and
thousands of civilians have been displaced. The
conflict appears to have reached a stalemate recently,
with both armies dug in to trenches and no major
fighting reported since May.
But hopes of ending the war have also stalled. A
peace plan crafted by the Organization of African
Unity calls for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of troops
by both countries, and the deployment of international
monitors before the establishment of a new U-N
supervised border commission.
Eritrea has accepted that peace plan, but Ethiopia has
rejected it, saying it is not satisfied with some of
the plan's technical details.
With both major fighting and the peace plan on hold,
the two countries have engaged in a continuing
propaganda war. Each has accused the other of
sabotaging peace efforts and taking territory.
Both sides have insisted they are prepared to keep
fighting. Ethiopia's president, Negasso Ghidada, said
in a speech Monday to Parliament that he still seeks a
peaceful solution to the war, but Ethiopia has the
ability to use force if peaceful means do not work.
(SIGNED)
NEB/JW/GE/RAE
12-Oct-1999 08:52 AM EDT (12-Oct-1999 1252 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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