DATE=6/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ETHIOPIA / ERITREA UPDATE (L)
NUMBER=2-263508
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNSN
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A ceasefire in the border war between
Ethiopia and Eritrea appears to be holding.
VOA's Scott Stearns reports diplomats are hopeful
the two-year conflict may finally be over.
TEXT: Both sides reported all of their fronts
quiet Thursday. This after Ethiopia agreed to an
Organization of African Unity (O-A-U) ceasefire.
Eritrea accepted the plan last week and welcomed
Ethiopia's decision, promising to abide by the
ceasefire now that Ethiopia has promised to
withdraw from Eritrea.
The O-A-U deal includes a United Nations force to
police a 25-kilometer "security zone" inside
Eritrea. Ethiopia has promised to pull out of
Eritrea and return to its pre-war border within
two weeks of the deployment of a U-N force whose
number and mandate are yet to be determined.
The security zone will keep the armies out of
artillery range. Until then it is up to the two
combatants to keep the peace. Ethiopia currently
controls ground deep inside Eritrea. On
Wednesday, Ethiopia took the garrison town of
Tesseney, 100 kilometers from the border.
Eritrea says it withdrew from Tesseney in a
tactical retreat. Either way, Ethiopia again
controls much of western Eritrea near Sudan.
Ethiopia's army also holds positions on the
eastern front near the Red Sea port of Assab and
on the central front in the mountains south of
the Eritrean capital, Asmara.
Establishing a U-N security zone along parts of
the one-thousand kilometer border will not be
easy. Much of the area is hot and dry and
difficult to re-supply. The force also comes at
a time when the United Nations is already looking
for troops for a peacekeeping mission in Congo.
Diplomats say the Ethiopia / Eritrea ceasefire
agreement should be signed in the next few days,
likely in Algeria, which hosted weeks of peace
talks as the current O-A-U president. (SIGNED)
NEB/SS/GE/KL
15-Jun-2000 07:51 AM EDT (15-Jun-2000 1151 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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