DATE=5/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ETHIOPIA ERITREA (L)
NUMBER=2-262660
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=ADDIS ABABA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Ethiopia has rejected calls for a cease-fire
in its war with neighboring Eritrea, and says its army
is continuing to fight. V-O-A's Scott Stearns reports
from Addis Ababa, a mediator from the European Union
is trying to arrange a truce in the Horn of Africa
war.
TEXT: Ethiopia says its ground troops have fought
with Eritrean troops in the first clashes on the war's
southern front, near Djibouti. A government statement
here says Ethiopian units captured Eritrean
surveillance posts near Burie, then fought off a
counter-attack by an Eritrean brigade.
Ethiopia says it has also advanced along the central
front in the war, where the two armies are most
heavily armed. The town of Maimine, which Ethiopia
says it captured late Sunday, is 10 kilometers inside
Eritrea, near the main road leading south from the
capital, Asmara.
// OPT // If Ethiopians took that road, it would put
more pressure on the town of Mendefera, 50 kilometers
south of Asmara. Mendefera already appears to be
under threat by an advance toward the town of Azera,
20 kilometers to the west, atop a ridge that defines
Eritrea's central highlands from its western lowlands.
// END OPT //
The Ethiopian statement says there was no fighting on
any front on Monday, but that report could not be
confirmed. In the last week, Ethiopian forces are
said to have advanced more than 100 kilometers into
western Eritrea.
Two years of talks have failed to resolve the
territorial dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Officials in Addis Ababa say they launched the current
offensive to force Eritrea to withdraw from disputed
border areas.
European Union envoy Reno Serri is shuttling between
Asmara and Addis Ababa, looking for a cease-fire. The
Italian diplomat faces an Ethiopian government that is
mistrustful of the international community, due to
what it believes are unfair U-N sanctions.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says the U-N
arms embargo, which applies to both of the warring
parties, is misguided, because it punishes Ethiopia
for defending its sovereignty in the same way it
punishes Eritrea for taking Ethiopian land two years
ago. More than that, he told African diplomats
Monday, it singles out Ethiopian officials for a
travel ban, for starting this latest round of
fighting. The prime minister says Ethiopia was
"shooting the second time" around, instead of starting
the fight in the first place.
Prime Minister Meles says Ethiopia is still ready to
talk peace, but will not abandon the fight. Ethiopia
will negotiate while fighting, he says, and fight
while negotiating. Both of these roads could lead to
peace, the prime minister says, and Ethiopia will
follow whichever is quicker.
/// REST OPT ///
In the last 10 days, Ethiopia has been following the
military route. The prime minister says that is not
inconsistent with the peace process, and it might even
speed it up. He says Eritrea is "a rogue state" that
responds only to what he calls the "stick" of military
force.
"Remove the stick and peace process vegetates," Prime
Minister Meles said. "Lift the stick and the peace
process begins to have some life."
The prime minister said Ethiopia has no intention of
remaining for a prolonged period in the large parts of
western Eritrea it now controls. If Eritrean troops
withdraw from Ethiopian territory they occupied at the
start of the war two years ago, Mr. Meles says,
Ethiopia will leave Eritrea. If they do not, the
prime minister adds, the war will continue.
After capturing the town of Barentu and cutting the
supply line for Eritrea's western army, Ethiopia says
it chased most of the remnants of those forces into
Sudan, by bombing a camp where they were preparing a
counter-offensive. Ethiopian units are also said to
be moving north from the town of Om-Hajar, along the
Sudanese-Eritrean border. (Signed)
NEB/SKS/WTW
22-May-2000 18:02 PM EDT (22-May-2000 2202 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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