Eritrean Ambassador Dismisses False Reports on Assab Port

Washington DC, 19 July 2001-There have recently been media reports stating that studies and discussions are underway regarding Ethiopia's lease of Assab port in Eritrea. For example, Xinhua of July 13 says, "Washington, as part of its effort to bring the normalization of the relationship between Addis Ababa and Asmara, has planned to pay for 30-year lease period. The fund will be given to Ethiopia as a loan …"
The Eritrean ambassador to the United States H.E. Mr. Girma Asmerom said, "The government of Eritrea has not held any such discussions with either the government of the United States or the government of Ethiopia. The media reports are baseless and pure fabrication. I don't know the motive behind such reports."
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