Press Release
The TPLF Regime Continues to Beat the War Drum

Ethiopia's Council of Ministers issued a statement yesterday which, unfortunately, is conspicuous for its inflammatory rhetoric and war mongering rather than the sobered language of peace. True, the statement contains a feeble "acceptance" of the Modalities of Implementation (MOI) endorsed by the 35th Summit of the OAU in Algiers on July 14, 1999. But this is blighted by a distorted presentation of the peace formula and the TPLF's siren call for war. The Council's "appeal" for Ethiopia's "Defense Forces" to pursue further its war of aggression was in fact accentuated by a more strident call for continued war issued by the EPRDF--Ethiopia's ruling party--yesterday evening.

Whereas the MOI provide for both sides to redeploy, as an interim measure, from positions moved into after fighting, the Council of Ministers tried to disinform public opinion by insinuating that the peace formula hinges on Eritrean unilateral withdrawal from "sovereign Ethiopian territory." To this end, it glosses over Article 4 of the MOI which reads, "The redeployment of troops shall commence after the cessation of hostilities. This redeployment shall not, in any way, prejudice the final status of the territories concerned, it being understood that this status will be determined at the end of the border delimitation and demarcation."

The Council of Ministers also appears to read from its own script as far as interim administration of these areas is concerned. In this regard, Article 5 read, "The modalities for the re-establishment of the civilian administration and population in the concerned territories shall be worked out after the cessation of hostilities."

More importantly, the TPLF regime seems to have missed the kernel of the MOI and the Framework Agreement itself. Both documents, as a package, are designed to ensure and expedite the demarcation of the boundary so as to settle the border problem legally. This will have reversed Ethiopia's violation of Eritrea's established colonial boundary through the issuance of an illicit map in October 1997 and acts of piecemeal occupation of Eritrean territories thereby triggering the current conflict.

This is indeed the reason why the TPLF regime has been obstructing the implementation of the OAU Framework in the past months and was reluctant to accept the MOI at the OAU Summit in Algiers. If it claims to have "accepted" the MOI now, it is only because it is finding it difficult to ward off intense international as well as growing domestic pressure. The TPLF's agenda of war remains, otherwise, transparent.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara, 22 July 1999