DATE=10/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ERITREA / FIGHTING (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255561
BYLINE=JENNIFER WIENS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Eritrea says its forces are not to blame
for starting the recent fighting with Ethiopia.
The Eritrean statement comes after Ethiopia's
claim that it repulsed an Eritrean attack on
Saturday and Sunday. Jennifer Wiens has more
from V-O-A's East Africa bureau.
TEXT: Eritrea denies its forces initiated a
recent attack on Ethiopian troops along the
western Badame front. Instead, they shifted the
blame for the renewed fighting back onto
Ethiopia.
An Eritrean radio broadcast calls reports of
attacks by Eritrean troops, quote, "a figment of
Ethiopia's imagination." The broadcast also said
Ethiopia had begun to attack Eritrea, and that
Eritrea was ready to defend itself.
Eritrea's denial follows Ethiopia's claims that
it had driven back several Eritrean attacks
Saturday and Sunday. Ethiopia says the attacks
happened in the vicinity of the Jerbert River on
the Badame frontline, which is the focal point
for much of the fighting between the two
countries.
Ethiopian officials say they killed or wounded
over 3-hundred Eritrean soldiers during the
weekend's fighting, but did not release any
casualty figures for the Ethiopian side.
So far there has been no independent confirmation
of fighting in the area.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have been battling over the
one thousand-kilometer long, vaguely defined
border since May 1998. After fierce fighting in
February along the Badame front, both sides dug
into trenches and the war slipped into a status
quo of occasional raids and attacks. No major
offensives have been attempted by either side
over the past few months, but reportedly, each
side has been increasing troop concentrations in
the area.
The renewed tensions on the battlefront coincide
with an increase of diplomatic activity. A
special envoy from the Organization of African
Unity (O-A-U) is currently shuttling between
Asmara and Addis Ababa in an effort to push
forward the O-A-U peace plan to end the conflict.
Eritrea has accepted the O-A-U plan, but not
Ethiopia, which says the peace agreement fails to
guarantee the return of local Ethiopian authority
over land controlled before fighting began.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed
and thousands of civilians displaced in the
border war between the two countries. (Signed)
NEB/JW/GE/KL
28-Oct-1999 07:51 AM EDT (28-Oct-1999 1151 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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