Ethiopia Eritrea Conflict Home Page: July 24 to July 30

News and Commentary on Ethiopia/Eritrea Conflict:
July 24 to July 30

Thursday, July 30, 1998:

Beware Of Playing Into The Hands Of EPLF (Letter to the editor - Monitor newspaper, Addis Abeba)
False Statement by Foreign Minister of Eritrea (Embassy of Ethiopia - US)
Israel Postpones Decision on Ethiopian Mig-21 Work For 1 Year (AFP)
Misc. News: Ethiopia-Eritrea soccer match to be on nuetral ground (Reuters)... Sudan accuses Eritrea of attack, Eritrea denies accusation (BBC)... Somali MP resigns, accuses EPRDF of intimidation (BBC)... Gold Mining Company Rift Resources Rift hopes OAU and UN peace initiatives will soon allow for normal resumption of business in the region. (Reuters)... Eritrean-Americans warned against travel to Ethiopia - (US State Department Travel Warning)
Ethiopian Journalists Arrested (International Federation of Journalists (IFJ))
New round of Sudan Peace Talks to Start next Week (Reuters)

Wednesday, July 29, 1998:

OAU Ministers to Discuss Eritrea-Ethiopia Report (ANS)
Ethiopia's Caged Bird: Amnesty for Asrat? (ANS)
Gadhafi Watch: "An Eritrean delegation led by Minister of Trade and Industry Ali Seid Abdellah left for Libya today. The delegation, consisting of ministers and heads of organizations, will follow up on President Isaias Afwerki's recent visit to Libya that aimed at implementing trade and cultural relations between the two countries." (PANA)
Negotiations in Burkina Faso this week? Unlikely... Main source for this news is the Eritrean Foreign Minister himself.
Ethiopia denies Eritrean claim that negotiations are scheduled this week (Was Eritrean Foreign Minister simply trying to score a propaganda point?)
Eritrea asks Israel not to fix Ethiopian jets (HA'ARETZ, Israel). Also see background note from July, 1997: Mig-21 upgrades for Ethiopian Airforce delayed ...Ethiopian government did not allocate funds.

Tuesday, July 28, 1998:

Ethiopia-Eritrea Mediation (VOA)
Two More Eritrean Maps Claim Territory From Djibouti In the first map, they have colored in Perim Island itself as belonging to Eritrea (Bab-el-Mandeb Straits). In the second map, the area claimed is the same, but more detail is shown of the area from Ras Doumera to Dar Alwa which is illegally shown as part of Eritrea. For comparison, here is a reference map from the University of Texas Library. Also see previous article on this topic: Which map Eritrea? from July 4.
Mubarak calls for peaceful end to Ethiopia/Eritrea border conflict (BBC)

Monday, July 27, 1998:

OAU to Report on Ethiopia, Eritrea Border Dispute (Reuters)

Arms cargo crash
(Africa Confidential, July 24, 1998)

We hear a Ukrainian Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane, which crashed near Asmara on 17 July killing its ten-member crew, was carrying about ten tonnes of light weapons for Eritrea's army. This was one of nine arms supply flights out of Burgos, Bulgaria. So far, about 46t. of weapons at a cost of some US$50 million have been delivered to Asmara by this route. Bystanders speak of a series of secondary explosions after the crash.

. The aeroplane crashed about a kilometre due east of Asmara Airport on a ridgeline but there are no indications it was shot down. Supply flights seem to have been restricted to nights for operational security reasons: darkness may have contributed to the accident. Arms shipments have continued since. Eritrean security is understandably sensitive about these flights and some diplomats who have taken too keen an interest in recent events have been threatened with expulsion.

Gadhafi Watch: Eritrean President leaves Libya after 2-day visit. No details on content of discussions. Eritrean President now in Alexandria Egypt... reportedly asking again for mediation by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
The OAU and the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict (Reply to article by Ms Kerrie O'Connor - Correspondent for the Australian National Broadcasting Company - July 25)

Sunday, July 26, 1998:

Reply to the Independent Newspaper article of July 24 (Article speculated that Ethiopia could be trying to recover a seaport)
Gadhafi Watch: Eritrean president flies to meet Gaddafi in Libya Last time he took the bus... now it appears he has violated the UN sanctions on air flights to Libya.. (sanctions are because of Libyan involvement in terrorist bombing of PAN AM Flight 103 that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers and 11 residents of the town of Lockerbie) Click here for an earlier Gadhafi Watch report from June 8.

Saturday, July 25, 1998:

Gadhafi Watch: Report from Tripoli, Libya Eritrean President Expected in Libya Saturday (PANA, July 25, 1998) - This would be the second Eritrean presidential visit to Libya this year.
Ethiopia Tries to Obtain Release of Cargo Stranded in Eritrean Ports (Xinhua)
Fears of new war in Horn of Africa The Independent (UK)
Ethiopian News Headlines Well-designed website in Amharic Language... headlines and articles from the private press - may cause some browsers to crash
Eritrea Asks Unesco To Seek Release of Detained Students (PANA) Personal comment: They should be released and sent home.

Friday, July 24, 1998:

Former Peace Corp Volunteer Fans the Flames of War (Commentary)
More from the Italian Military Maps - Alitena Alitena is clearly shown in Ethiopian territory
More from the Italian Military Maps - Bada: Bada is the small fertile plain where the Muna appears to turn north or dissipate into the plain. The Italian frontier line stops following the Muna and terminates altogether. The Eritrean border line does not continue because Mussolini was trying to extend the border inwards from the coast in 1934 (again, in violation of the Italy-Ethiopia treaty). The area under dispute in the Bada area is very small...the border runs through the southern end of the Bada plain, not the area labeled as "L. Bada".

Articles From Friday, July 17 to Thursday, July 23
Articles From Friday, July 10 to Thursday, July 16
Articles From Friday, July 3 to Thursday, July 9
Articles From Friday, June 26 to Thursday, July 2
Articles From Friday, June 19 to Thursday, June 25
Articles From Friday, June 12 to Thursday, June 18
Articles From Wednesday, June 3 to Thursday, June 11

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News and Commentary on Ethiopia/Eritrea Conflict: July 24 to July 30

News and Commentary on Ethiopia/Eritrea Conflict:
July 24 to July 30