DATE=6/3/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ETHIOPIA - ERITREA (L)
NUMBER=2-263109
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=ASMARA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Eritrea says Ethiopia has launched a fresh
attack on one of the country's main ports along the
Red Sea. Correspondent Nick Simeone in Asmara reports
the attack comes at the end of a week of talks between
both countries aimed at ending their two year border
war.
TEXT: For the second time in a week, Eritrea says
Ethiopian warplanes have bombed the port of Assab.
Government spokesman Yemane Ghebremeskel speaks of
intense fighting in the region, in Eritrea's far east
and far inside its own territory.
// GHEBREMESKEL ACT //
This is a clear act of invasion. The attack was on
undisputed sovereign Eritrean territory.
// END ACT //
The Eritrean claim has not been verified. But the
alleged attack comes three days after Ethiopia
declared victory, saying it had retaken all its
territory. But Eritrea charges Ethiopian troops are
still occupying areas on its side of the border.
Fighting has continued with Eritrea saying there can
be no talk of a ceasefire until those troops have
left.
The government here in Asmara says the attack on Assab
demonstrates this two year conflict is not about a
border dispute but that Ethiopia has a wider agenda.
Some observers have suggested Ethiopia would like to
regain an outlet to the Red Sea, which it lost when
Eritrea achieved its independence seven years ago.
Despite the fighting, indirect talks between both
sides have been taking place in Algiers on a peace
plan put forward by the Organization of African Unity
aimed at ending a war that has claimed tens of
thousands of lives and uprooted hundreds of thousands
of civilians. (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/PLM
03-Jun-2000 05:54 AM EDT (03-Jun-2000 0954 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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