Ethiopia Must Agree to a Cease-fire and Immediate Redeployment

Ethiopia is claiming that "it considers the war over and what is now required is the reaching of a settlement under the auspices of the OAU in Algiers." This was the gist of the statement that was issued by Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry on Saturday, June 3.

It is Ethiopia that launched the war of invasion on May 12. It is, therefore, up to Ethiopia to end the war.

It is a well known fact that Eritrea has been consistently calling for a cease-fire and an end to the war for the last two years since the eruption of the border conflict. The proximity talks in Algiers last April could not make progress because Ethiopia refused to sign a cease-fire agreement although this was an explicit provision of the OAU peace plan. Ethiopia further refused to accept UN Security Council Resolution 1297, issued immediately after Ethiopia's resumption of its war of invasion, calling for a cease-fire within 72 hours. On the other hand, Eritrea accepted the UN Security Council resolution and did so formally and publicly before the deadline.

Only ten days ago, Ethiopia's Prime Minister ruled out any possibility of a cease-fire during the proximity talks in session in Algiers. His words to the OAU special envoy, Ahmed Ouyahia, were "we will continue to fight as if there were no negotiations, and we will negotiate as if there was no war."

Ethiopia is now saying, "it considers the war over!" Why the volt-face? Is this sincere? Or is Ethiopia calling for time-out until it heals its wounds and prepares for another round of offensives?

For, in spite of its understandable posturing, Ethiopia knows that it has sustained huge losses; over 80,000 men killed and wounded so far according to western intelligence sources.

The fact is the territorial gains that Ethiopia achieved during the early days of the invasion cannot compensate for the acute human hemorrhage that it has and continues to sustain.

And anyway, if the war is over, why did Ethiopia bomb the water depot of the port city of Assab on Thursday? Why did Ethiopia launch a large-scale offensive (its losses there were over 3,700 killed and wounded) on Saturday on the Assab front where Eritrea has redeployed, unilaterally and in response to an appeal of the OAU Chairman, to 37 kms. whereas the border stands at 72 kms?

Why does Ethiopia continue to occupy uncontested, sovereign Eritrean towns and villages in western Eritrea? If the war is really over, Ethiopia is bound to reciprocate and redeploy its troops to the May 6 line. The OAU has expressly requested Ethiopia to do so. But Ethiopia refuses to heed the repeated calls of the OAU. On the contrary, Ethiopian troops occupied new territories last Monday even as the Ethiopian government issued a statement claiming that it "has completed the withdrawal of its troops from western Eritrea!"

So why is Ethiopia telling the world that the war is over when reality is otherwise? Does Ethiopia believe that it can get away with this condescending duplicity? Who can be deceived by these hollow words? Is Ethiopia trying to tell the world that the war would be "over" provided it is allowed to keep what it has captured through invasion? This is legally untenable, as it would only mean rewarding aggression.

If Ethiopia were sincere in what it is pronouncing and if the "war was really over," this would have been good news indeed. For this to happen, however, Ethiopia's words would have to be matched with concrete acts on the ground. Ethiopia must redeploy its troops, immediately and unconditional, from the occupied areas in accordance with the OAU peace plan. Partial withdrawal from territories in which it has been defeated or where it faces military pressure and defeat alone, as has been the case so far, is not good enough. Similarly, Ethiopia must stop launching new attacks in Assab or elsewhere in sovereign Eritrean territory. These, and a constructive role in Algiers, are some of the tangible measures that the international community and Eritrea would like to see Ethiopia take if it really means what it says.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara, 5 June 2000