NAIROBI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Eritrea said on Friday it had released 71 Ethiopian soldiers captured during five weeks of fighting between the two countries in May and June.

``This constitutes the first batch'' of releases, Eritrea's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement faxed to Reuters.

The releases were unconditional and ``reflect the sincere desire of the Government of Eritrea to see an early resolution to the border problem Eritrea and Ethiopia through legal and peaceful means,'' the statement said.

``The Government of Eritrea avails itself of this occasion to renew its calls to the international community to exert all necessary efforts to promote a legal and peaceful solution to the problem,'' the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from Ethiopia.

Eritrea and Ethiopia have been mired in a war of words since the conflict abruptly ended without a truce or ceasefire, with each side accusing the other of mistreating its nationals.

Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, two years after Eritrean rebels helped the current government overthrow dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.

The above statement by Eritrea, faxed to Reuters is an obvious media effort aimed at the international community. It is not intended as a gesture to Ethiopia and certainly won't be interpreted that way.

For Eritrea to de-escalate tensions it needs to do the following

(1) Immediately allow the International Red Cross (ICRC) access to all Ethiopians (POWs and civilians) detained by Eritrea. It has now been close to three months since the ICRC began trying to ascertain the welfare of Ethiopians detained by Eritrea. The above statement appears to be part of an Eritrean strategy to deflect attention away from its continued obstinance vis-a-vis the ICRC.

Meanwhile, the ICRC has already made several visits to Eritreans detained in Ethiopia (both POWs and civilians). It has already registered 163 Eritrean POWs at the Fiche camp.

(2) Eritrea continues to persecute Ethiopian civilians in Eritrea and prevent them from leaving Eritrea. This has to stop immediately. Eritrea must allow all Ethiopians to leave Eritrea under ICRC escort.

(3) Eritrea's self-serving and hypocritical statements need to be replaced with sincere, plain language which demonstrates their readiness to face up to the facts in this conflict.

For example the call on the international community to work harder for peace.... Already the OAU and the UN have backed the US-Rwanda peace plan!! What other international community is left?? Who are they referring to? Why don't they cooperate with the international peace plan??

Then there is the 'sincere' desire to settle the dipute using legal and peaceful means. This is complete rubbish. Eritrea and its supporters are supremely confident in the ability of Eritrea to maintain its current military occupation. This is their solution which they have chosen. Were they indeed sincere, they would never have sent armed units to Badime in the first place.

Finally the call for demarcation - Eritrea keeps repeating this as if Ethiopia has not already agreed to demarcate the border. Again this is Eritrean pubic relations attempt to misinform the world community and gain support. So far it has not worked because the ugly facts of Eritrea's military aggression stand in glaring contrast to the self serving, and exceedingly hypocritical statements coming out of Eritrea.

Eritrea needs to stop using this hypocritical language. Instead it should:

(a) Apologise to the world for starting this stupid war,

(b) Condemn the cluster-bombing of Mekele and transfer those involved in planning and executing this barbaric act to an international tribunal for justice,

(c) Withdraw its troops and submit its border claims to the international court for arbitration.

- Dagmawi