ERINA Update
(Eritrean News Agency,
Tel: ++291-1-117627, Fax: 127385)
Friday, August 13, 1999

President departs for working visit to United States


(President Isaias Afwerki left Asmara yesterday for a working visit to the United States. The president will hold discussions with members of the Eritrean community in America and is expected to meet with officials in the US government and the United Nations. The president is expected to reiterate, while on his mission, Eritrea's standing commitment to peace and to the resolution of the conflict.

Foreign Ministry calls Ethiopian claim "diversion"


Senior presidential advisor, Yemane Gebremeskel, has dismissed claims by Ethiopia that Eritrea was "masterminding attacks into Ethiopia through the OLF." Mr. Yemane said, "This is clearly a red herring being thrown in to divert pressure from Ethiopia which is in a diplomatic corner. The notion that we are supporting and, indeed, hastily forming groups which predated this conflict is absurd. Everyone knows full well that the groups Ethiopia accuses us of masterminding were once active members of the EPRDF coalition. Ethiopia must not be given a chance to undermine peace at this juncture. We have both agreed to peace and now the ball is in Ethiopia's court. Rather than issue baseless claims and inflammatory statements, the government in Addis Ababa must now show the international community whether it is committed to peace."