DATE=6/29/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ETHIOPIA/ERITREA PEACE TALKS (L)
NUMBER=2-263908
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United States says Ethiopia and Eritrea
have accepted an invitation to hold a new round of
peace talks in Washington. Correspondent Nick Simeone
reports the two countries are trying to bring a formal
end to one of Africa's costliest border wars.
TEXT: Talks beginning Monday will be on technical
issues, meaning Ethiopia and Eritrea will be getting
down to discussing the details of an Organization of
African Unity peace plan that has already brought
about a ceasefire.
/// REEKER ACT ///
That agreement left a number of outstanding
issues to be resolved before a final peace
agreement can be concluded.
/// END ACT ///
State Department spokesman Phil Reeker isn't saying
whether both sides will meet face to face, or
negotiate through mediators issues such as defining
their disputed border and compensation for war
victims. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia
seven years ago, but their common border has never
been clearly marked, leading to a war between two of
the world's poorest countries that has claimed the
lives of tens-of-thousands of people over the past two
years.
Ethiopia still occupies undisputed Eritrean territory.
A peace agreement proposed by the Organization of
African Unity would require an Ethiopian withdrawal in
exchange for dispatching United Nations peacekeepers.
But the two countries' border would have to be clearly
defined first. (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/JP
29-Jun-2000 16:31 PM EDT (29-Jun-2000 2031 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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