``The request by Eritrea for membership in the organisation of the Sahel and Sahara was responded to and was accepted due to its accepting to expel the armed Sudanese opposition,'' the newspaper said.

It gave no source but said that Eritrea had agreed to expel the opposition under pressure from Libya and Qatar.

Eritrea and the Central African Republic were the latest countries to be admitted into the organisation of north and west African countries.

Eritrea severed diplomatic ties with Sudan in 1994 after accusing Khartoum of supporting anti-Eritrean Moslem militants.

It allows Sudanese opposition groups under the umbrella National Democratic Alliance to be based in its capital, Asmara.

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir met Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki in Libya on the sidelines of a summit of the organisation last week. They agreed to continue talks under the mediation of Libya and Qatar.

The Sudanese and Eritrean foreign ministers signed a memorandum of understanding in Doha last November to settle differences by peaceful means, but about a month later Sudan accused Eritrea of shelling Sudanese villages.

The operation, in response to a request made by the Eritrean government, is expected to provide rations to the displaced through the end of this year, said Russ Ulrey, WFP's regional logistics officer.

The recipients of WFP food aid will include about 246,500 displaced, mostly women and children, and some 21,500 returnees who were deported from Ethiopia, the officer said.

The border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia which began in May of 1998 escalated once again in February this year, forcing thousands of Eritreans living along the border to flee further north in the country.

The majority of them are now living out in the open or under makeshift tents in the dry mountainous regions of Debub, Gash-Barka and South Sea provinces.

To work closely with the Eritrean Relief and Refugees Commission, said Ulrey, WFP will provide monthly rations of cereals, pulses, oil and salt to recipients at rural distribution centers in the three provinces.

Meanwhile, WFP's U.N. partners will address problems of clean water, shelter and severe malnutrition, Ulrey added.

WFP is now appealing to donors to fund the 15.4-million-dollar operation.

INTRO:  ERITREA'S PRESIDENT SAYS ETHIOPIA'S GOVERNMENT MAY TRY 
DIVIDING THE COUNTRY IF IT LOSES SUPPORT IN THEIR ONGOING BORDER 
WAR.  BUT AS V-O-A EAST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT SCOTT STEARNS 
REPORTS,  ETHIOPIA SAYS IT STANDS UNITED AGAINST ERITREAN 
AGGRESSION.

TEXT:  ERITREAN PRESIDENT ISAYAS AFEWORKI SAYS ETHIOPIAN LEADERS 
ARE CONCERNED ONLY ABOUT THEIR OWN REGION AND WOULD THINK NOTHING
OF DUMPING THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IF THEY  CANNOT  CONTROL IT.

PRESIDENT ISAYAS SAYS ETHNIC TIGRAYAN OFFICIALS RUNNING 
ETHIOPIA'S GOVERNMENT ARE INTERESTED ONLY IN KEEPING THE COUNTRY 
TOGETHER IF THEY CAN CONTINUE TO INTIMIDATE THEIR OPPONENTS.

                    ///  ISAYAS ACT ONE  ///

         THEIR COMMITMENT TO ETHIOPIA IS A PRETENTION.  THEY ARE 
         COMMITED TO ETHIOPIA IF THEY CAN CONTROL ETHIOPIA, 
         CONTROL ETHIOPIA BY DIVIDING IT AND WEAKENING THE GROUPS
         THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A THREAT TO THIS GANG. 

                        ///  END ACT  ///

PRESIDENT ISAYAS HELPED TIGRAYAN LEADERS TAKE POWER IN ETHIOPIA 
IN 1991, DEFEATING ETHIOPIAN LEADER MENGISTU HAILLE MARIAM. 
PRESIDENT ISAYAS THEN LED ERITREA TO INDEPENDENCE FROM ETHIOPIA 
TWO YEARS LATER, A MOVE HE SAYS TIGRAYAN LEADERS WOULD NOW LIKE 
TO FOLLOW USING CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR SELF-DETERMINATION.

                    ///  ISAYAS ACT TWO  ///

         DIVIDING ETHIOPIA AND CONTROLLING IT IS AN OPTION. IF 
         THEY CAN DO IT.  THEN THEY ARE FOR ETHIOPIA.  IF THIS 
         DOMINATION OF ETHIOPIA AND CONTROL OF ETHIOPIA BY 
         DIVIDING, MANIPULATING, AND SUPPRESING IS  NOT  GOING TO
         WORK, THEY WILL HAVE TO RESORT TO THE PREVIOUS AGENDA OF
         INDEPENDENCE OF TIGRAY. 

                        ///  END ACT  ///

PRESIDENT ISAYAS SAYS THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE GOAL OF TIGRAYAN 
LEADERS INCLUDING ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER MELES ZENAWI.  THE 
PRIME MINISTER SAYS TIGRAYAN AUTONOMY WAS PART OF THEIR STRUGGLE 
AGAINST THE MENGISTU ARMY, BUT HE BELIEVES ETHIOPIA'S NOW 
MORE-FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT REMOVES THE NEED FOR 
INDEPENDENCE.

                     ///  MELES ACT ONE  ///

         I THINK THE INDEPENDENCE OF TIGRAY OR ANY OTHER REGION 
         OF ETHIOPIA IS FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES OVER, WAS OVER
         WHEN THE CONSTITUTION WAS ENSHRINED.  WHEN THE RIGHT OF 
         SELF-DETERMINATION WAS ENSHRINED, IT WAS  NOT  INTENDED 
         TO BRING ABOUT THE INDEPENDENCE OF ALL SORTS OF PLACES. 
         IT WAS INTENDED TO  REASSURE PEOPLE THAT THIS IS  NOT  A
         PRISON WITHOUT WINDOWS, THAT THIS IS A VOLUNTARY UNION 
         OF PEOPLES FOR A COMMON PURPOSE. 

                        ///  END ACT  ///

PRIME MINISTER MELES SAYS REGIONAL LEADERS ARE FREE TO CAMPAIGN 
FOR INDEPENDENCE IN ETHIOPIA, JUST AS HIS E-P-R-D-F GOVERNMENT IS
FREE TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST IT ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE COUNTRY IS 
STRONGER TOGETHER.

                     ///  MELES ACT TWO  ///

         THE E-P-R-D-F STRONGLY BELIEVES THAT WE HAVE CREATED A 
         SOLID BASIS FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE TOGETHER, THAT UNDER 
         THESE CIRCUMSTANCES PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE INTEREST OF THE 
         PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA AT HEART COULD  NOT,  SHOULD  NOT  
         CONTEMPLATE SECESSION.  BUT THAT'S OUR VIEW.  IT IS 
         THEIR RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THIS JUST AS IT IS OUR RIGHT TO
         CHALLENGE THEM POLITICALLY,  NOT  BY MUZZLING THEM OR BY
         DENYING THEM THEIR RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION. 

                        ///  END ACT  ///

AS FOR ERITREA, PRIME MINISTER MELES BELIEVES THE COUNTRY HAS HAD
MIXED RESULTS SINCE INDEPENDENCE.  HE DOES  NOT  SUPPORT THOSE IN
ETHIOPIA CALLING FOR ITS REUNION, BUT HE DOES SAY HE WOULD LIKE 
TO SEE A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT THERE, A CHANGE THAT WOULD REMOVE 
PRESIDENT ISAYAS FROM POWER.

                    ///  MELES ACT THREE  ///

         I FEEL THAT INTERNALLY, MORE TOLERANT POLITICS IN 
         ERITREA WOULD ON THE WHOLE CONTRIBUTE TO AN EXTERNALLY 
         TOLERANT POLICY ON THE PART OF AN  ERITREAN GOVERNMENT. 
         THE FATE OF NATIONS WILL  NOT  DEPEND ON THE 
         IDEOSYNCRACIES OF INDIVIDUALS AND THEREFORE WE WILL HAVE
         A MORE SECURE FUTURE.  SO, IN THAT SENSE, I THINK IT 
         WOULD BE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION.  BUT THAT IS AS FAR AS
         IT GOES. 

                       ///   END ACT   ///

PRIME MINISTER MELES SAYS HE DOES  NOT  INTEND TO HELP REMOVE 
PRESIDENT ISAYAS BY FORCE.  HE SAYS HE IS ONLY CONSULTING WITH 
ERITREAN OPPOSITION GROUPS THAT HE BELIEVES CAN TAKE THE COUNTRY 
IN A BETTER DIRECTION.

PRESIDENT ISAYAS SAYS ETHIOPIA AND SUDAN ARE PLOTTING TO 
OVERTHROW HIS GOVERNMENT BY ARMING ERITREAN MILITIAMEN IN 
NORTHERN ETHIOPIA AND EASTERN SUDAN.  (SIGNED)

NEB/SKS/JWH/PLM

21-Apr-99 4:22 AM EDT (0822 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America

Eritrean leaders also tell their people that now, as in the past, the EPLF is fighting for Eritrea's freedom. However, it is clear that the EPLF started this war with Ethiopia only to strengthen its own power.

Meyssaw(private) April 11: NATO's ongoing operations against Yugoslavia show that the world's powerful nations are above the law. Weak countries get thrashed by powerful states as the UN watches on impotently since international rules are made and broken by these same powers.

Beza(private) April 13: Is everything being done to secure victory in the war with Eritrea? Has the government sought to facilitate participation by opposition political parties in the next election? Why has it failed to respond to their calls for national reconciliation? Efforts must be made to arrest the negative activities of government supporters who keep alienating the people as well as those who create artificial shortages of basic commodities.

Ethop(private) April 14: Calls on Ethiopian forces to deliver a quick victory are ill advised. It is, therefore, proper to demand that our soldiers refrain from making unnecessary sacrifices because it will be much better to retrieve our land with minimum sacrifices and over a long period of time than pay heavy sacrifices to achieve the same today.

Tikusat(private) April 14: The government of Egypt has been double-dealing as regards the Ethio-Eritrean war. Egyptian officials openly profess that they want to see a peaceful conclusion to this conflict while they secretly assist Eritrea with arms, intelligence and military advice. Therefore, Ethiopia should review its relations with Egypt.

Addis Zemen(government) April 15: The five-year educational development program aims at raising the country's educational coverage to 50 percent at the end of the program period. It is very encouraging that a breakthrough has now been made with the coverage reaching 42 percent within only one and-a-half years of the launching of the program. The task of expanding the educational sector is not something to be left to the government only. Development associations, non-governmental organizations, teachers, parents and investors, too, need to make concerted efforts to see to it that every citizen has access to educational opportunities.

Mebrek(private) April 15: Regional officials are forcibly recruiting young people without being officially authorized by the government. This measure is absolutely unnecessary in view of the eagerness with which all Ethiopians volunteer to defend their country. It also threatens to divide people by creating ill feelings and resentment. The government must, therefore, give this matter immediate attention and stop this dangerous move.

Agere(private) April 16: There is lack of transparency on the part of the government. This has become worse since the outbreak of the Ethio-Eritrean war. As the government becomes more secretive, it will resemble EPLF as its media propaganda does already. The Ethiopian government must, therefore, trust its people and show more openness.

Waag Communications Enterprize Pvt. Ltd provides this news summary for information purposes only and does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or the content of the news reports contained herein. Publisher & Editor: Tafari Wossen, Editor: Solomon Demrew