ERINA Update (Eritrean News Agency,Tel: ++291-1-117627, Fax: 127385)

Thursday, February 4, 1999

1. President Isaias Afwerki reaffirmed to UN Special Envoy Mohammed Sahnoun, "the Eritrean government's conviction that the conflict can only be resolved peacefully." Sahnoun is on an official visit to the region to discuss the ongoing border dispute. The Eritrean government further said it "considers positively the OAU framework as an ongoing process," adding that it remains engaged with that process. The government reiterated "its commitment to exercise restraint repeating its call for a binding and immediate cessation of hostilities" underlining that "resorting to military force would be a grave mistake both tactically and strategically."

2. Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Tadesse yesterday accused Eritrea of moving heavy reinforcements to Tsorona "in order to attack industrial establishments and the ancient stela (obelisk) in Axum." A senior official in the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed the statement as "ludicrous" noting that "it was indeed Ethiopia which had placed some 55,000 troops across from Tsorona over the last three weeks, creating a de facto front along a border section which had, until then, remained trouble free." The official said that Eritrea had "no cause to initiate hostilities, let alone destroy historical sites which were important to Ethiopians and Eritreans alike." Last week, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki said in a nationally televised interview that "Eritrea would never fire the first bullet."

3. Former French minister Mr. Jean Francois Deniau was in Asmara yesterday to discuss the border dispute. Mr. Deniau met with President Isaias and senior government officials as part of France's desire to explore peaceful solutions to the nine month old border conflict. Mr. Deniau had traveled to Asmara on January 18th during the first leg of his efforts. The former French minister also visited Addis Ababa and Djibouti.


Veronica Rentmeesters, Information Officer
Embassy of Eritrea to the US
1708 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC 20009, USA
TEL: 202 588 7587 FAX: 202 319 1304
E-M: veronica@embassyeritrea.org

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