Consistency and being true to principles and absolute commitment to the peaceful resolution of the conflict has been the wholemark of Ethiopia's position since the Eritrean aggression on our country in May, 1998.

Since the OAU facilitation commenced in June 1998, and the setting up of the High Level Delegation, Ethiopia has dealt with the OAU in a forthright manner and with all due respect accorded to the Organization, to the High Level Delegation and to its individual members.

When the High Level Delegation finally put on the table its peace proposal, Ethiopia, through its Prime Minister, immediately accepted the Framework Agreement ad referendum after the clarifications it requested were given to its satisfaction at the summit in Ouagadougou. Its formal acceptance of the Framework was communicated subsequently through a message by Prime Minister Meles dated 12 November, 1998, addressed to the current chairman with copies to the other heads of state of the Delegation and to the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity.

In the communication of 12 November, 1998, referred to above, Prime Minister Meles said, inter alia, reiterating the clarification given to him at the Ouagadougou summit that "It is . . . to be noted that the High-Level Delegation underscored in its clarification, that with regard to Article 3, the Eritrean forces are to withdraw from all Ethiopian border territories that they have occupied since May 6, 1998."

Accordingly, as underlined in no uncertain terms by its Prime Minister, the demand that Eritrea must withdraw from all occupied Ethiopian territories for peace to be achieved between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been a firm Ethiopian position and a fundamental and irreducible minimum condition and not, as alleged by Eritrea, a new element injected by Ethiopia at the eleventh hour. It would have been unthinkable for Ethiopia to have done otherwise, because that would have amounted to rewarding aggression; and not rewarding aggression has from the outset been the mainstay of the Ethiopian position on countering the madness in Eritrea. Fortunately, this has also been the conviction of the High-Level Delegation. In this regard, it must sound rather strange to expect Ethiopia to change its position now after Badme; and what the battle of Badme symbolizes cannot be lost on Eritrea. Forceful occupation is forceful occupation. It would be absurd - although anything can be expected from Asmara - and makes no sense logically and in terms of international law for an aggressor to be asked to withdraw only from a portion of part of a sovereign state it had seized by force. In any case, all this is partly a moot question because Eritrea did not withdraw from the Badme region in compliance with the OAU peace plan, but under duress when its army was routed in humiliation.

Ethiopia accepted the Framework Agreement not because all its elements were to its liking, but because it was a comprehensive package which as the Security Council affirmed later, was "fair and balanced" and because it did not reward aggression and it did not ask for the humiliation of Ethiopia as Eritrea had wanted.

Ethiopia's acceptance of the Framework Agreement was thus not tactical, but principled. Ethiopia embraced the Framework, not because the imperative of tactical maneuver dictated acceptance by Ethiopia, but because Ethiopia's commitment to peace made it an imperative necessity. All the more so because the Framework, to reiterate, did not reward aggression. The Framework Agreement which some later wanted to tinker with, as the Security Council tried to do in its formal meeting of 10 February as well as at its informal consultation of 24 February 1999, is the expression of OAU's commitment to principles of international law and to its resolute objection to and abhorrence of the philosophy that might is right.

Since the Eritrean debacle in Badme region which was liberated by Ethiopia with great sacrifice, Eritrea has suddenly become ostensibly a new convert in embracing the Framework Agreement. Within less than 24 hours after its occupation forces were routed from Badme, Eritrea informed the Security Council on 27 February 1999 through a convoluted letter by its president which is full of loopholes and resembling a war communique, about its acceptance of the peace plan. No sooner had the letter written by its president containing this message in which Eritrea's acceptance of the peace plan was thrown in as an afterthought reached the Security Council than an emergency meeting of the Council was convened on a weekend to celebrate this "historic acceptance" of the peace plan by Eritrea.

What was of immense surprise to Ethiopia was not Eritrea's acceptance - which as subsequent events have shown was tactical and insincere - but the eagerness and enthusiasm demonstrated by some members of the Security Council to give legitimacy to Eritrea's attempt to use the Framework Agreement as a smokescreen for buying time.

There is now absolutely no doubt that what Eritrea wanted to do by accepting the OAU plan at the eleventh hour was to gain respite for further military preparation. This has been made clear by its various officials, including by its Foreign Minister as well as by developments on the ground. The speeded up tempo with which fortifications are being built and reinforced in still occupied Ethiopian territories and the rounding up of new recruits for yet another battle, are all indications that contradict Eritrea's professed intentions. Moreover, the Eritrean authorities are yet to inform their citizens formally of their acceptance of the Framework Agreement. What the Eritrean people are told officially is about a so-called voluntary tactical withdrawal in preparation for another offensive.

In the meantime, Eritrea, in its public relations exercise has become more Catholic than the Bishop about its commitment to the OAU peace plan - a plan which it had scoffed at as late as six days prior to the battle of Badme, telling the EU Troika that it was an unsatisfactory formula prepared by a feckle Organization. The conversion, if it was genuine, would still be good enough, regardless of the Eritrean attitude toward the OAU. But the conversion is fake .

Under these circumstances, it will be folly for Ethiopia to allow Eritrea to gain time for yet another aggression. The yardstick for Eritrea's genuine acceptance of the Framework Agreement is its immediate and unconditional withdrawal from the remaining occupied Ethiopian territory and the return of the status quo ante in full, in line with the letter and spirit of the OAU peace plan.

Furthermore, in light of the huge loss of lives, the humanitarian crisis and the destruction of property caused by the Eritrean aggression, Ethiopia will insist, as it already has done in a letter by its Prime Minister to the President of the Security Council on 8 March 1999, that Eritrea bears full responsibility for all these damages. This is the road to peace and to the successful implementation of the Framework Agreement.

Ethiopia pays homage to the OAU for having stood up for principles at a time when so few were seen practicing what they preach and at a time when those entrusted with the responsibility for international peace and security have been so eager to reward aggression. Eritrea still counts, even after Badme, that its aggression may be rewarded. If Ethiopia had not allowed this prior to Badme, it would be madness to expect that it would do this after Badme and after so many patriots died liberating part of their land from the aggressors.

March 10, 1999

ENDS

A statement from the government spokesman said Eritrean troops continued to occupy Ethiopian territory on the northern Egala and Zala Anbesa-Aiga regions and at Bada-Burie on the northeast front.

The communique denounced "Eritrea's campaign of misinformation" on an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) peace plan to end the war, which began in May last year, and said Asmara was "attempting to disseminate a misinterpretation of the agreement".

Addis Ababa said the mediation committee established by the OAU had confirmed last November to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that terms in the plan on withdrawing troops from Badme on the western front concerned Eritrean soldiers.

The government spokesman said that during a mini-summit of the OAU in Burkina Faso on November 7 and 8, it was made clear that the demand for withdrawals from "Badme town and its environs refers to Eritrean troops and took note that Meles understood 'Badme and its environs' to be 'all Ethiopian territory occupied after 6 May, 1998'."

The Ethiopian armed forces seized back Badme and its sector, taken by Eritrea at the beginning of the war, when heavy artillery and infantry ighting resumed last month at the cost of thousands of lives, according to both sides.

On Monday, President Issaias Afeworki's government in Asmara denounced what it described as Ethiopia's bad faith in its interpretation of the OAU peace plan, which Afeworki told the UN Security Council he had accepted in a letter at the end of February.

The Eritrean foreign ministry charged that Ethiopia was trying to have it believed that the OAU plan provided for a comprehensive withdrawal of Eritrean troops from all territory held, and said that clarification from the pan-African body indicated that only Badme and the immediate area were at issue.

For their part, Ethiopian authorities denounced the Eritrean position and its claim of an alleged "Ethiopian agenda of overthrowing the government in Asmara".

"The Ethiopian government is absolutely committed to the principle of non interference in the internal affairs of other countries," the statement issued here said.

It also stressed that the "Ethiopian air force has personnel with years of experience and has no need for mercenaries, although, as Prime Minister Meles openly acknowledged, Ethiopia has, at times employed foreign trainers and technicians."

"Eritrea's allegation against Ethiopia is an obvious smokescreen to cover-up its own employment of mercenaries in the unskilled Eritrean air force," the statement said.

Eritrea's acceptance "lacks clarity and is open to interpretation," Zenawi told African delegates from the Organization for African Unity (OAU), which drew up the plan.

Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki in early March made the surprise announcement that his side would accept the OAU framework peace accord in a letter to the UN Security Council.

Addis Ababa accepted the plan in November.

"Accepting the OAU Framework Agreement means immediate withdrawal from all forcefully occupied Ethiopian territories without any preconditions," Meles said.

The plan calls for the deployment of peacekeepers and neutral delineation of the border, preceded by an Eritrean withdrawal from the disputed Badme region, on the western front.

But both sides have accused each other of remaining in the disputed territory, with Addis Ababa charging Saturday that the Eritrean army remained in northern parts of Ethiopia.

Meles on Monday accused the Eritrean army of "reinforcing their trenches and mobilizing additional troops to these areas" in northern Ethiopia.

He reiterated Ethiopia's resistance to UN resolution 1227, adopted on February 10, that urged member states of the United Nations to ban sales of arms and munitions to the two countries in their on-and-off border war.

The resolution "denies Ethiopia of the means to self-defense," Meles said.

"Eritrea has an outlet to the sea and has no regard to international principles," he said adding that "landlocked Ethiopia scrupulously observes international laws and principles."

"Ethiopia will never compromise on its sovereignty," Meles concluded.

The Horn of Africa nations went to war over contested border territory in May last year. Heavy fighting resumed early in February after a seven-month lull.

Eritrea, who sparked the conflict when it occupied the territory, won independence from Ethiopia in May 1993, depriving Ethiopia of its Red Sea coastline.

After fierce fighting which left thousands dead, according to both sides, Ethiopia announced on February 28 that it had driven the Eritrean troops out of the Badme region, announcing "total victory" there.

"We are ready to negotiate with Ethiopia if they want to sit down at the table and bring a solution to the problem," especially to the dispute over Badme, Alamin told Xinhua at a rally marking the International Women's Day (March 8).

Ethiopian forces broke through Eritrean lines at Badme in a huge infantry offensive backed by artillery and fighter planes at the end of last month.

The two neighbors went to war last May over their unmarked 1, 000-kilometer border, leaving more than 1,000 people killed. The latest round of fighting erupted on February 6.

"We want peace, not war," Alamin stressed, adding that war is good neither for the Ethiopians nor the Eritreans.

But he turned to be pessimistic over a peaceful solution, blaming the Ethiopian side for bringing good-will efforts to a deadlock."

He said the problem has gone beyond border conflicts, saying, " The Ethiopians want to recapture Eritrea. This is our feeling."

Meanwhile, the Eritrean Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Ethiopia of rejecting the recent calls by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the U.N. Security Council for an immediate end to hostilities.

Also on Monday, Ethiopia said Asmara's abrupt acceptance of an OAU-proposed framework peace agreement is skeptical.

Eritrea accepted the framework agreement on February 27 when the Ethiopians claimed "total victory" in Badme, a disputed area of some 390 square kilometers southwest of Asmara.

The official Ethiopian News Agency quoted Prime Minister Meles Zenawi as saying on Monday that Eritrean president's letter to the U.N. expressing acceptance of the OAU package lacks clarity and is open for interpretation.

Meles urged Eritrea "to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from all occupied Ethiopian territories without any pre-conditions."

Also Monday in Khartoum, an Ethiopian diplomat said Eritrea was not committed to peace.

An Eritrean foreign ministry communique said that "pitched fighting continued throughout last week as Ethiopia launched, almost daily, attacks on the (western) Mereb-Setit front in an attempt to seize Eritrean sovereign territory."

The official ERINA news agency added: "Military reports from the front indicated fighting continued over the weekend after Ethiopian heavy artillery tried to dislodge Eritrean forces from defence positions" in the same area.

In Khartoum, Ethiopian Charge d'Affaires Abdu Legesse Bushra said Eritrea was not committed to a peace plan drawn up by Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

"The Eritrean government is not at all serious about accepting the OAU initiative.

"If Eritrea was serious enough, it should have conveyed this acceptance to the plan's initiator, the OAU, rather than the UN Security Council," the diplomat told journalists.

Asked about the opposition in Eritrea, the Ethiopian official said his government "supports a bid by the Eritrean opposition to topple the Eritrean regime," but stressed this did not involve military or physical backing.

Addis Ababa is "committed to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, including Eritrea," he said.

"We only encourage them (the Eritrean opponents) to salvage their people from repression by the present regime," Abdu Legesse said.

Eritrea occupied the western front hamlet of Badme and pockets along the central front in May last year, sparking the border war.

After fierce fighting which left thousands dead, according to both sides, Ethiopia announced on February 28 that it had driven the Eritrean troops out of the Badme region, announcing "total victory" there.

Eritrea acknowledged its forces had retreated to form new defence lines.

Both sides have accepted the OAU peace plan, but Ethiopia is demanding that Eritrean troops also withdraw from disputed territory on the central and eastern fronts before the implentation of a ceasefire, the deployment of peacekeepers, and neutral demarcation of the ill-defined 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) frontier.

The Eritrean foreign ministry communique accused Addis Ababa of "a complete lie and a deliberate distortion" in claiming that further Eritrean withdrawals were part of the peace plan, maintaining it referred only to Badme town.

An Ethiopian government source told AFP in Addis Ababa on Saturday however that Ethiopia had received assurances from an OAU mediation committee that the plan envisaged the retreat of Eritrean troops from all territories occupied during the initial five weeks of fighting which started in May last year.

A seven-month lull followed as diplomatic efforts continued, but the fighting resumed on February 6 after both sides had sent hundreds of thousands of troops to the border.

A three-man delegation of OAU officials meanwhile returned to their headquarters in Addis Ababa on Monday after talks in Asmara with Eritrean Foreign Minister Haile Woldensai.