Colour is one of the identifying marks of a person, an animal, a place or a thing. Throughout the history of mankind colour has been used to differentiate the acceptable from the unacceptable, the ugly from the beautiful, the richest from the poorest, the weakest from the strongest, the wise from the foolish, the good from the bad, the righteous from the unrighteous, and heaven from hell.

Colour was used to determine which place is fertile or barren, hot or dry and consequently decisions would be made where settlements could take place.

In politics, as in any other field, colour has been used to make the distinction between honesty and dishonesty. Here, we are not talking about the difference between black and white, red and blue, yellow and orange or any other primary or secondary colours.

In this essay we are talking about the colours of :
1. Cheating 2. Lying 3. Stealing 4. Killing 5. Destroying 6. Vandalizing 7. Burning 8. Looting 9. Hating 10. Deporting 11. Deceit 12. Avarice 13. Jealousy 14. Envy 15. Greed 16. Lawlessness 17. Raping 18. Ethnic cleansing 19. Confiscating property 20. Audacity 21. Sagacity 22. Mendacity

The government of the minority regime in Mekele, led by the Tigrian Peoples Liberation Front ( TPLF) and now amalgamated into the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Party ( EPRDF ), is a government of dishonest and cruel people who exhibit different colours at different times. Hence, we can call the government of Meles Zenawi and Co. a government of a chameleon, which changes its colours to adapt into its environment. A chameleon constantly changes its colours to be deceptive and get false coverage. Thus, camouflage becomes the norm of the day.

In our culture there is an expression that detests a changing and an un upright person. We say: "telewawaTi kem nefaHito"- loose translation - " endless changing like a chameleon". The person who does not have a principle and does not stand for the truth and justice is a person of different colours and can't be trusted.

The Weyanes, leaders of present Tigray and the evil rulers of Ethiopia, are the personification of evil and deceit. They have different colours of: mendacity, audacity , sagacity, corruption, greed, envy, jealousy, insecurity, xenophobia, inferiority complex and the desire to be revengeful. Their brains are full of mucous membrane that spews the lava of lying, cheating and dishonesty.

What can we expect from a sick head and brain? We know when the brain is affected the whole body is sick. A sick body can't function properly within a sick brain. A cheater and a liar can't be a good friend and a helpful neighbour. If you are a neighbour of a chameleon, you are always under the mercy of the ever changing and eluding reptile.

The Eritrean government, for the sake of perpetual peace and posterity, has accepted the recent proposal of the cessation of hostilities drafted by the Organization of African Unity ( OAU ), the European Union ( EU ) and the United States of America ( USA ). We had hoped the Algiers proximity talks would bring peace. But, it appears the Weyanes are trying to take the Port City of Aseb as a bargaining chip. This a dream of the unsatisfied and poor dreamer! Aseb will not be taken by the Weyanes. As the expression " over my dead body" explains, this will not happen! Aseb is an Eritrean territory and it shall remain Eritrean! The Amhara chauvinists will always salivate when they think of an exit or access to the Red Sea!

For Eritrea, the best alternative is peace. There is no substitute to peace, cease-fire and the demarcation of the 1,000 km border area. The future of our young people and country depends on a lasting peace and an economic progress that guarantee the stability of the Horn of Africa.

The reports coming from Addis Abeba indicate there is no acceptance of the peace proposal. True to its colours of deceit and dishonesty, the Weyane government, through its spokeswoman, is stating Eritrea can't be trusted. Does it need a rocket scientist to accept a cease-fire. It does not take a mathematical engineer to decipher the formula for peace. It is simple and pure common sense.

A chameleon always uses it changing colour to deceive and attack its prey. The Weyanes have used their ever changing colour to deceive the world community. Their true colour has been a colour of arrogance, false national pride and a spirit of lawlessness. Journalists, visitors and the displaced Eritreans have witnessed how the lawlessness of the Tigrians was carried out in the western and central territories of Eritrea, within the 10 days of invasion and wanton destruction and mayhem.

When is the OAU going to wake up from its slumber in order to understand the true colours of Meles and Co.? How long will it take the EU to understand the insincere machination of the Weyanes? What does it take for the State Department of the American government to really comprehend the cunning image of the Weyanes? When is the UN coming to its senses to realize the true colours of the Addis Abeba and Mekele governments?

At this time, we have reached at a critical stage. Enough damage has been done upon the Eritreans. The Eritrean government has given concessions after concessions for the sake of peace. Enough is enough! Something has to be done!

Last week the UN Security Council met to discuss the Ethio-Eritrean crisis and wasted its time! There was no action taken by its closed door meeting, except to listen to the litany of the Secretary General's list of letters he received from the Eritrean government and the rulers of Addis Abeba. The time wasted could have been spent to take some positive steps in resolving the 2 - year old conflict!

Ethiopia should have been told to immediately withdraw from the occupied Eritrean territories. Calling for peace was not enough! A stick, not a carrot should have been used. What did we learn from the occupation of southern Lebanon by the Israeli army for 22 years? The Security Council did not have a stronger spine to tell Israel to withdraw from Lebanon.

It appears there is a spirit of injustice in the halls of the UN Building, the EU, OAU and the State Department. The Eritreans should not be left alone to be burned at the stake and the altar of political expediency! The Eritreans have the same blood, like any human being. The blood of the Eritreans is not thinner than any blood in the human race! It deserves the same kind of treatment and respect, like any other human race.

The dead line the OAU, EU and USA gave to the Ethiopian government has expired. What is the response of the mediators going to be? Have they not understood the true colours of the enemy? Have they not realized who is for peace, and who is not for peace? Do they not comprehend who is suffering? For how long is this prevarication of the Weyanes going to last? Is there any justice left within the confines of the mediators?

It has to be realized justice has been crying in the highlands and lowlands of Eritrea for 30 years! If it were not for the blood, sacrifice and sweat of the Eritreans, Eritrea would not have been born as an independent and free country in 1991. We do not want go back to the days of the liberation struggle.

For the last 7 years, after the referendum of 1993, the Eritreans have tasted the fruits of freedom and independence. No one wants to be under the yoke of the brutal leaders of Mekele and Addis Abeba. Every Eritrean knows the true colours of the traitors of Adi Grat, Adwa, Shire, Tembien, Endaselasie and Mekele! Nothing good comes out of those places!

Let all of us learn a lesson, "Honesty 101", and the art of resilience and perseverance. The future of Eritrea is going to be brighter, in spite of the current military reversals of the past 3 = weeks. The Eritreans have clearly understood the true colours of the remnants of Ras Alula and Mengesha.

It is up to the OAU, EU and USA to take the necessary measures to make Ethiopia accept the peace proposal. Peace should not be held as a captive or hostage. Ethiopia needs to be told in an unambiguous words there will be consequences to its refusal to accept the latest offer given by Eritrea.

The Eritreans know better and have maintained their sanity and patience. However, there is a limit to how much they could take. Let this be the last chapter of their betrayal. They have been duped for so many years and at different junctures of their history. They have clearly identified the true colour of their enemy and will not allow themselves to be duped and betrayed again.

Let him who has the ear hear the call of the Eritreans for peace! The consequence of rejecting peace and prolonging the war will be a sad chapter in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia will not be in peace, as long as there is no peace in Eritrea. Donated food aid and weapons can't save Ethiopia from the coming Armageddon! Dependence on foreign mercenaries will not be a panacea to the pathological diseases that Ethiopia is suffering from.

At this time, Ethiopia needs someone who has the intellectual capacity to see the difference between darkness and light, between day and night, between good and evil. It would be to the benefit of the poor, 10-12 million Ethiopians, who are suffering and dying of famine, to see an end to the on going crisis between Eritrea and Ethiopia.