ERINA Update
(Eritrean News Agency,
Tel: ++291-1-117627, Fax: 127385)
Tuesday, April 27, 1999
  1. President Isaias Afwerki and Eritrean Foreign Minister Haile Woldensae met with United Nations Special Envoy Mr. Mohamed Sahnoun yesterday. In separate meetings, Sahnoun delivered a message to President Isaias from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and held talks with Foreign Minister Haile Woldensae who leads the Eritrean delegation mandated to deal with the border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release yesterday in which it "reaffirmed its strict adherence to the OAU Framework Agreement that was endorsed by the Summit of the Central Organ and expressed its commitment and readiness for its full implementation." The press release also put forth the

    Eritrean Government's "readiness for redeployment as clearly stipulated by, and in the letter and spirit of, the Framework Agreement."

    The US Government has reaffirmed its call for an immediate cease-fire between Eritrea and Ethiopia. A State Department spokesperson yesterday said the "US does not support any preconditions for an immediate cease-fire."

  2. The Ethiopian spokesperson, in a statement issued over the weekend, described Ethiopia's mass deportation of over 56,000 Eritrean civilians as "precautionary measures to protect National Security."

    Senior Eritrean Foreign Ministry official Amdemicael Kahsai strongly deplored the justifications as a "flimsy excuse which seeks to turn Ethiopia's crimes into some kind of victory." Mr. Amdemicael added, "Ethiopian cannot try and assert that young children, elderly citizens, whole families, and the like were dangerous agents of espionage. Everyone is aware that Ethiopia was seeking to stir up ethnic hatred, not to protect national security. They can not fictionalize the extent and nature of their war crimes. There is no justification for the arrest, larceny and deportation of over 56,000 Eritreans from Ethiopia. They must put this 'cloak and dagger' nonsense to rest."