Dear Congressman Ed Royce,

As one seriously concerned about the Eritrea-Ethiopia war, I monitor developments daily and I am frustrated by the ongoing weak and unproductive mediation effort. Even the output of the July 12-14th 35th OAU Summit in Algiers is questionable. While Eritrea submitted its formal approval of the document titled "Modalities for the Implementation of the OAU Framework" during the summit, Ethiopia released a formal approval a week later by way of a document titled "Statement of the Council of Ministers of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia July 20." Unfortunately, Ethiopia is not ready to make peace. The title of AP's July 22 report on the conflict has summed up Ethiopia's reaction to the OAU's latest effort: Ethiopia Talks War As International Mediators Praise Peace Efforts.

Note that between the present time and the outburst of the war in May '98 the situation got worse and worse as tens of thousands of soldiers have died in the trenches. As you indicated in your May 26 press release, over 300,000 Ethiopians and more than 120,000 Eritreans have been displaced. Also, as corroborated by Amnesty International, over 51,000 Eritreans have been expelled from Ethiopia as a result of an overt governmental policy of ethnic cleansing in violation of international human rights laws. Finally, tens of thousands of Ethiopian soldiers have died as part of a primitive, human-wave method of military attack.

I understand that you are seriously concerned about the conflict as well. In fact on May 25 you chaired "The Ethiopian-Eritrean War: U.S. Policy Options" House of Representatives Africa Subcommittee hearing which I had the privilege of attending. At the time, I could attest to the fact that you were equally frustrated. The honor and dignity with which you conducted the hearing impressed me. Your questions to US State Assistant Secretary Dr. Rice focused on three primary concerns: the level of attention and effort that the Clinton Administration dedicates to the conflict, the spread of dangerous, hate promoting messages in the media of the two belligerent countries, and, most importantly, the scheduled US $ 90 million debt relief to Ethiopia. All of these concerns are extremely critical and unless properly addressed, ineffective mediation, war mongering messages in the Ethiopian media, and continued economic assistance to Ethiopia - the second largest recipient of US aid in Sub-Sahara Africa - stand to prolong the war and the associated bloodshed.

Thus far, mediation efforts accommodated Ethiopia despite a) its overt violation of the air moratorium personally brokered by President Clinton in June '98 as well as b) Eritrean acceptance of the OAU Plan in February '99 after withdrawing from Badme, as clearly called for by the plan. As a result, Ethiopian troops, under an irresponsible and incompetent military leadership, have died in tens of thousands as part of human wave attacks that face solid Eritrean resistance on the front and Ethiopian guns on the back in the hope of not only overwhelming the Eritrean defenses through sheer use of numbers, but also minimizing Ethiopian desertion. The media, including BBC, Reuters, The Guardian and The Washington Times, has covered this horrendous war practice on Ethiopia's part extensively. This archaic war practice must be stopped at all costs.

That the conflict is receiving adequate attention from President Clinton, i.e. your first concern, is clear as has been repeatedly indicated by Dr. Rice as well as by his mention of the conflict in a handful public appearances. Unfortunately, presidential attention to the matter is no substitute for a working policy that results in a cease-fire agreement signed by both Eritrea and Ethiopia. In fact, President Clinton appears to have given up on the conflict. In a PBS interview with Jim Lehrer on June 11 President Clinton states, "We can't stop every fight like the fight between Eritrea and Ethiopia and the struggles in Chechnya." He proceeds to say, " ..we ought to prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians and the wholesale uprooting of them because of their race, their ethnic background or the way they worship God. I think that's an important principle myself." But in this instance, the President is not practicing what he preaches. His inaction in the face of the horrendous expulsions of Ethnic Eritreans from Ethiopia as well as the tens of thousands of Ethiopian soldiers that are being used as cannon fodder is disappointing at best and horrifying at worst.

With respect to your second concern, media broadcasts in both countries, Dr. Rice indicated that she does not speak any of the indigenous Eritrean or Ethiopian languages, but that she would follow up with your suggestion to set up a monitoring mechanism. You are, of course, concerned about the dangerous spread of hate that could result in a tragedy similar to Rwanda's. As one that closely monitors broadcasts in both countries, I can attest to the fact that Eritrean radio broadcasts and print media focus on the senselessness of the war and the irresponsible behavior of the Ethiopian government, particularly in regards to its policy of ethnic cleansing and of unabated military attacks of undisputed Eritrean areas such as the ports of Assab and Massawa.

Ethiopia's media messages, on the other hand, are dangerous because they foment hatred against Eritreans. For instance, The Indian Ocean Newsletter of June 19 indicates that in a recent radio commentary powerful TPLF- the party that is presently governing Ethiopia - leader Abay Tsehaye said, " It would be necessary to keep up the war in order to sow the seeds of popular discontent in Eritrea." It should be recalled that another senior TPLF official, Sebhat Nega, said the following in a televised March '99 Al Jazeera interview, " They (Eritreans) call themselves the 'Jews of Africa' and the 'Black Israelis'. They say that they are a super race..The Jewish Community in the United States has been lobbying the US government for Eritrea.."

Additionally, many Ethiopian articles in magazines and web-based media channels focus on the persona of Eritrean President Issaias Afwerki and portray him as a demoniac dictator. Such baseless, provocative, and, most importantly, inflammatory statements and articles in the Ethiopian media do not bode well with the majority of the Eritrean people since they credit their charismatic leader and his administration for the hard won Eritrean independence. Also, Eritreans throughout the world continue to place their solid confidence as well as support on their government's ability to resolve the present conflict with Ethiopia peacefully. On the issue of media monitoring, then, I hope that you will follow up with the State Department because the venom emanating from the Ethiopian side has already created a deep rift between the two people; one that will require several generations to dilute.

As for your third concern, US debt relief to Ethiopia, the prospect is alarming. On June 18 Debt Forgiveness Campaign Group Jubilee 2000 indicated that Ethiopia is one of the sixteen poor countries that could see its debt-service bill reduced by between a third and half. In the hearing you placed the spotlight on the issue of debt relief to Ethiopia, a responsible act for which I am profoundly thankful. You questioned the logic behind providing economic assistance to Ethiopia given that this would be tantamount to indirect financing of its war with Eritrea. Your stand on this issue manifests a sense of judiciousness present in public servants of high caliber and, most importantly, demonstrates compassion for the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia whose tens of thousands of sons and daughters are dying in war.

It must be recognized that not all US activity related to the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict has been unproductive. It is in fact evident that some constructive US economic pressure is being exerted against Ethiopia. The following remarks by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin in June '98's issue of the quarterly magazine Aser are encouraging, " Such pressure like threatening to terminate bilateral economic cooperation, threatening to suspend existing IMF funded programme trying to scare us into bowing to their dictates were apparent on many instances, not only from the American side, but also from other quarters."

Furthermore, on July 15 BBC reported that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi expressed his disappointment with the IMF for its failure to grant Ethiopia a previously scheduled loan. The comment of Foreign Minister Seyoum and the BBC report show that US taxpayers may in the near future stop contributing to the irresponsible and horrendous death faced by thousands of young, poorly trained Ethiopian soldiers that are forced to die as part of human-wave attacks. Nevertheless, the level of economic pressure against Ethiopia is clearly insufficient because this poor country remains obsessed with defeating and controlling Eritrea as opposed to feeding its 5.3 million citizens that are presently at risk of famine.

In conclusion let me state that the status quo is not comforting, particularly if exacerbated by a failure to secure a cease-fire agreement as called by the United Nation's Security Council on June 23rd and as accepted only by Eritrea. Also, continued vituperative messages in the Ethiopian media and a possible debt relief to Ethiopia can only cause more inordinately high level of bloodshed, the brunt of which will be Ethiopian as thus far corroborated by the media worldwide. Accordingly, I strongly urge you to continue to do all you can to first and foremost stop the war by critically assessing what has transpired heretofore and then compelling Ethiopia to accept the UN's call for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire. The implementation of the UN's call for a cease-fire would enable both warring parties to negotiate their differences peacefully and, in the process, pave the way for the world to understand the complex origin of the largest and bloodiest conflict at the present time. Better understanding of the roots of the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict would in turn allow policy makers to establish early detection mechanisms in order to prevent a repeat of this tragic war.