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."