The Ethiopian Government was given a formal copy of the OAU Framework Agreement on Saturday, November 7, 1998 in Ougadougou. On Sunday, November 8, 1998, the OAU Chairman, Blaise Campore and Mr. Mugabe (the second leg of the dry stool), met with the Eritrean president and the Ethiopian Prime Minister. (They met separately at the insistence of the Ethiopian PM. The absence of Djibouti's Aptidon was at the insistence of the Eritrean President who felt that there was no need for Ethiopia to be represented by two Heads of State.)

The leaders of the two nations flew back to their countries after the conclusions of the private sessions on Sunday afternoon.

On November 9, 1998, Monday morning, minutes after the Ethiopian rooster announced the beginning of another glorious Ethiopian day, the very busy Spokesperson of the Federal DEMOCRATIC Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) issued a statement that included the following:

"An OAU Committee which met this weekend in Ouagadougou presented a peace proposal to both Ethiopia and Eritrea.... Points of clarification were raised by the Ethiopian delegation, which was led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi....CONSIDERING THE PROPOSAL AND THE SATISFACTORY CLARIFICATION OF THESE POINTS, ETHIOPIA FULLY ACCEPTED THE PROPOSED OAU PLAN." [Emphasis mine]

Now, we all know that, unlike the police state of Eritrea, Ethiopia is a genuinely democratic state where issues of war and peace are treated with the gravity they deserve and given extensive forum at the celebrated Ethiopian Cabinet. True, the Cabinet had no knowledge that its army has been occupying Eritrea's Ad Murug for nearly a year, but that is a minor detail. Given this truism, when was the OAU Framework Agreement discussed in the Ethiopian Cabinet or Council of Ministers? We already know that the cabinet does not work on weekends because the Ethiopian Spokesperson told us so over the February 26, 1999 weekend when the world was asking what its post-Operation Sunset position was. So, when did the Cabinet meet?

There never was a meeting. Democracy in Ethiopia is just another mask from a closet full of masks that the monstrous Ethiopian Government employs. The TPLF's version of democracy was best described by Theodore M. Vesal from Oklohoma State University as "a box within a box", which he defines as "party-controlled local organizations elect intermediate organizations, which elect national organizations, which appoint executives, boards, commissions, and other public bodies from social organizations dominated by the party." EPRDF to TPLF to MLLT is a grand pyramid scheme where the pinnacle, MLLT, dictates the shape and size of the pyramid and the rewards flow only upwards.

Like all pyramid schemes, the Ethiopian Government's existence is based on deception. Beginning with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister's (a veteran MLLTer) emphatic insistence to the Addis-based Diplomatic community on May 19, 1998 that nothing--nothing at all--provoked the events of May 12, 1998 when he for certain knew that his government and his colleagues in Tigray were the first to shed blood days earlier, on May 6, 1998, the explanations and justifications the Ethiopian Government has given the world for its maniacal decision to pursue war in its conflict with Eritrea have been nothing but a series of deceptions. Ethiopia's "democracy" is just another deception--as most Ethiopians will readily admit when they are not consumed by their hatred of Eritrea.

Ethiopian diplomacy, too, is grand deception. Let's talk about the oft-quoted clarifications the Ethiopian PM supposedly received on the definition of Badme Town and Environs and the role of the Observor Troops. The OAU Version of events is that the Prime Minister, sought clarification on the...

<<...definition of Badme Town and its environs, which he understands to be "all Ethiopian territory occupied after May 6, 1998". The High-Level Delegation took note of the position of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. There was, however, no further discussion on the issue>>

Now read how the Pyramid Scheme Expert spins this in his (undated, of course) letter to the OAU where he announces that Ethiopia "officially accepted the High-Level Delegation's peace proposal as clarified at our meeting Ouagadougou." His recollection of the clarification is as follows:

<< It is also to be noted that the High-Level Delegation underscored in its clarification, that with regards to article 3, the Eritrean forces are to withdraw from all Ethiopian border territories that they have occupied since May 6, 1998. >>

For seven months, the Ethiopian Government kept peddling this bogus "clarification" and denying that the OAU calls for a ceasefire as the first step to the implementation of the Framework Agreement. Meanwhile, the OAU kept chasing the cat that swallowed its tongue. Then, in July, the real authors and owners of the Framework Agreement--the Americans--stepped in and effectively said, we will call cease-fire "non use of force" and we will re-re-redefine the environs of Badme Town to extend all the way to Zalambesa and ask that Eritrea withdraw. So, do we have a deal? Eritrea, seeing the futility of talking reason with the unreasonable, said yes. What was Ethiopia's response?

Ethiopia was back to the Mask Closet. The democracy mask and the clarification mask were back. Well, we have to discuss it with our colleagues, we are a democracy.... Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, who wasn't told that the "democracy" mask was on, pre-empted his colleagues by telling journalists in Algiers that Ethiopia had accepted the new Modalities with the clarifications it sought. A week later, the so-called Council of Ministers, in a language clearly showing its clenched fist and grinding teeth, reluctantly accepted the new Modalities while instructing the already armed-to-the teeth and ready to fall armed forces "be more vigilant!".

If the Ethiopian Government was mad as hell about the Modalities, it is downright panicky and irrational about the technicalities. Eritrea has accepted them--which is only logical considering that Framework and the Modalities had already been accepted. Ethiopia is back to its bag of tricks. We don't know what the Technicalities call for; nor have we been told what the "clarifications" Ethiopia is seeking are but you can bet your bottom Nakfa that the delay deals with Civilian Administration, the role of the Military Observers as well as the definition of the OAU Charter AHG/Res 16 (1) which "SOLEMNLY DECLARES that all Member States pledge themselves to respect the Borders existing on their achievement of national independence." Colonial Treaties are an anathema to Ethiopian politicians. Remember that when Meles Zenawi told the world that he accepted US-Rwanda proposal on June 4, 1998 (on the eve of the bombing of Asmara), he deliberately left out any mention that demarcations will be based on "colonial treaties" opting for "international law."

While we are taking bets, what are the odds that anyone besides the hugely unpopular TPLF will come out on top in the next election? It depends on how popular the TPLF will be in May 2000. And how can the TPLF reverse its unpopularity? By continuously waging war against Eritrea. It is a sad fact that Ethiopian history is so Eritrea-obsessive and its political maturity so primitive that if an earthquake were to flatten Eritrea, many Ethiopians would vote the Earthquake King of Kings and Elect of God. One hopes that the current mediators--especially the very talented team from Algeria--understand this and pressure Ethiopia to come to its senses and resist its impulse to war-making that has contributed to making it the oldest and the poorest country in the world.