ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Friday its nationals in Eritrea were being persecuted in the aftermath of war between the two countries and warned of serious consequences unless the abuses stopped.

The government in Addis Ababa said 30,000 Ethiopians were being held in concentration camps inside Eritrea and another 20,000 had been forced out of the country since a peace deal ending two years of war was signed in June.

``Ethiopia has so far exercised restraint in the hope that the international community could prevail upon Asmara. But there is a limit to restraint and the regime in Eritrea should consider itself warned that it will be held responsible for all the consequences of its actions,'' Ethiopia's foreign ministry said in a statement released late on Friday.

``In the light of the foregoing, Ethiopia appeals for the last time to the international community to save Ethiopians from a regime that is committing war crimes in this day and age against innocent and unprotected civilians.''

It said that Ethiopians expelled from Eritrea had been forced to walk through minefields and flooded rivers on their journey back across the border, and that it had the names of 1,074 Ethiopians who have reportedly disappeared without trace.

The peace agreement signed in June ended a two-year border war that killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

Ethiopia said it wanted officials of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the European Union sent to Eritrea to investigate the allegations of abuses in camps and prisons.

Under the peace agreement, the United Nations is to send a peacekeeping force to patrol the disputed border and keep the rival armies separated by a 25-km (15-mile) buffer zone inside Eritrean territory.

Text: State's Reeker on Ethiopia/Eritrea Humanitarian Issues
(U.S. to send Ambassador Bogosian to region) (480)

The United States is sending Ambassador Richard Bogosian, special assistant to the Greater Horn, to the Ethiopian and Eritrean region to examine human rights violations and humanitarian issues adversely affecting civilians impacted by the conflict between the two countries, a State Department spokesman said August 17.

Deputy State Department Spokesman Philip Reeker said in Washington that the United States remains deeply concerned about these issues in the region. He said these problems threaten to worsen relations between the two countries at an important period in the peace process.

Following is the text of Reeker's statement:

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U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
Statement by Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman
Washington, D.C.
August 17, 2000

ETHIOPIA/ERITREA Humanitarian and Human Rights Issues

The United States remains deeply concerned about the human rights violations and humanitarian issues that continue to adversely affect civilians impacted by the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. These problems threaten to worsen relations between the two countries at an important juncture in the peace process.

Of most pressing concern are the continued detentions of civilians of both nationalities, the dangerous and uncoordinated manner in which civilians detained by Eritrea are being deported or repatriated to Ethiopia, and the lack of access by international agencies to Eritrean civilians in Ethiopian occupied areas of Eritrea. These conditions are grave and pose a direct threat to the well-being of thousands of innocent civilians.

In addition, we remain deeply concerned that as many as a million and a half Ethiopians and Eritreans have been displaced from their homes. Many are living in camps. Some are living in caves. Tens of thousands have been expelled from their countries of residence and forced to leave most of their possessions behind.

We have repeatedly called on the Eritrean Government to allow full access by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to all detainee and prisoner of war camps, and to ensure that all repatriations or deportations are conducted with the full involvement of the International Committee of the Red Cross and in accordance with international law. We further call upon both governments to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross and appropriate international organizations to ensure that civilians in areas of Eritrea currently occupied by Ethiopia receive appropriate and immediate international aid and protection. We call on both governments to provide due process to all detainees in accordance with international law.

The United States is sending Ambassador Richard Bogosian, Special Assistant to the Greater Horn, to the region at the end of this week to further examine these issues and underscore U.S. concerns.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)