Walta Information Center, ma.le.li.t.-sponsored- and ma.le.li.t.-controlled web-site features articles that are nothing but the official government line. It is obvious for any person who follows the articles on the site that they are government sanctioned, and not the opinions of individuals. In fact, a close look at the articles that appear on the site reveals that the writer (or writers) always correctly predict what the official Ethiopian government line is going to be. Surprise, surprise! It is only fair to conclude that the articles are written by ideologues and demagogues of ma.le.li.t.

It is great to have a site such as Walta. They will talk too much and reveal to the world their true intentions. Case in point:

Recently, Walta published an article entitled "'Topsy-turvy'The Way To Break A Promising Deal." True to from, the article is full of accusations. But, this time around, the accusations are directed at the U.S.A., the U.N., Algeria and its leader. But particularly at the U.S.A. It was also particularly harsh at all the experts who were gathered in Algiers and came up with a document on how to end the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. This document, called the Technical Arrangements, is based on documents both the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments have already agreed to. The Ethiopian government took only a few seconds before announcing its acceptance of the earlier documents-fully banking on Eritrea's cautious route, appearing rejection of the peace plans to the eyes of the untrained.

In hindsight, Eritrea's cautious approach paid real well: it exposed ma.le.li.t. of its true intentions-these are the intentions that it was only broadcasting to its people. Ma.le.li.t.'s approach indeed has been multiple. As Prof. Tekie Fessehazion put it recently, it told the Tigreans that the war is about revenge. It told them that Eritreans look down on them and that they have to assert themselves. This is ma.le.li.t.'s self-hatred, exposing its inferiority complex. It told the Amhara that the war is about getting Ethiopians their birth-right (access to the sea) and to re-capture the Eritrean port city of Asseb. It told the rest of the world that it was simply trying to regain its sovereignty and that the conflict is a purely border conflict. It used three different languages for the three different groups: Tigrigna for Tigreans, Amharic for the Amhara and English for the rest of the world.

Now that it is cornered, it seems that it is coming out in the open, albeit slowly. The international community is also waking up to ma.le.li.t.'s tricks, albeit slowly-at the cost of tens of thousands of Eritrean and Ethiopian youth. The blood, sweat and tears of the people of the Horn of Africa are calling on the international community to stop Ethiopia's war of aggression, but their calls are falling on deaf ears.

The accusations in the above-mentioned article on the Ethiopian government-sponsored web-site, start by lambasting the experts who came up with the technical Arrangements. It states: "Not only are its 'Designers' different, who really invited themselves in, but it was found to be far in content and spirit from the principles embodied in the Framework Agreement and Modalities of Implementation." Although Ethiopia denied it, the whole world knows that Ethiopian and Eritrean representatives were in Algiers to provide their inputs in what was finally called the Technical Arrangements.

All the people who were involved with the negotiating process since May 1998 to August 1999 should be outraged by such an accusation. The countries and organizations that sponsored it and those that sent experts to help resolve the conflict should be outraged. Moreover, the technical experts involved in coming up with the Technical Arrangements to peacefully end the Ethio-Eritrean conflict should be outraged.

When the two countries were presented with the Technical Arrangements and asked whether they accepted the peace package, Eritrea officially accepted the peace package and acknowledged its readiness to sign the package. Ethiopia took a more dangerous road: it accused Eritrea of not being sincere in its acceptance and, at the same time, asked for clarifications. Nothing wrong with the latter, but the former is designed to mislead the Ethiopian people and the international community.

Fortunately for all peace-loving people (and unfortunately for Ethiopia), the main sponsor of the peace plan-the OAU-promptly delivered clarifications to Ethiopia's concerns. A few days later, Ethiopia had no choice but to reject the peace package. It essentially killed the peace process. All international media understood it that way.

"Wait a minute," the ma.le.li.t. said. "We did not reject the peace package, we only rejected the experts who authored it, "different designers."" If the lives of our loved ones were not at stake, this would have been a great joke-we would all laugh and go home. But, it is a matter of life and death for the youth in the trenches, the Vanguards of our nation. It is indeed a matter of Eritrea's independence.

It is one thing to ask for clarifications, but to accuse the countries and friends of both countries should be unacceptable. The Technical Arrangement is simply a time-line on when and how things are supposed to happen, from signing the document to demarcating the border.

These "different designers" are accused of "changing the principles and main themes of the Framework Agreement and Modalities of Implementation.... They changed the core themes of the two main agreements."

Such is how Ethiopia is turning away from peace, from dialogue, from harmony. It was out-right lying to start and re-start battles during the war in the first several months of the conflict. Now, it is accusing one and all of the countries and people involved to peacefully end the crisis.

In talking too much, they are revealing their true intentions of starting and unilaterally escalating the war to such deplorable levels. They stated their intentions in their local media, starting May 1998. Now, they are emboldened to articulate it in their official web-page. The article put it this way: "They [the "different designers", that is] tried to patch a peace deal with out addressing or allowing room for further negotiations to address the root causes of this war. For them this was simply a "border dispute" and should get resolved by "expert cartographers" from the UN. How patronizing. We have been in that road, thanks to Eritrea's intransigence and excuses, but that argument was thrown out into the bin, well until our new mediators recycled it. This is a recipe for disaster. They almost derailed the peace process. Good thing Ethiopia is still genuinely interested in pursuing the peace angle and would like to see this thing work."

Eritreans have long suspected that the conflict has nothing to do with Badme or any other border village. It has been and continues to be, an ambitious attempt at re-colonizing Eritrea. Now, with such bold declarations, nobody should have any doubts about Ethiopia ambitions.

The Technical Arrangement is simply a time-line on how and when things are supposed to happen, from signing the document to demarcating the border. Provided that the conflict is really about the border. It is not! It is a naked aggression by Ethiopia to re-colonize Eritrea. The international community would help (and serve) both countries and their people much better if it is ready to make the distinction between the two. It is time to call a spade, a spade.

Dehai, let's not waste precious talent arguing about non-consequential issues. Let's keep our eyes on the ball. Let's sleep, but "one eye at a time".

Best wishes,
Mobae