News and Commentary on Ethiopia/Eritrea Conflict:
August 15 to September 18
Week ending September 18, 1998:
Week ending September 11, 1998:
- Ethiopia:Eritrea - Brothers at War (Africa Confidential; September 11, 1998)
- Springtime in Ethiopia brings back fears of war (Reuters; September 11, 1998)
- Background to and Chronology of Events on the Eritrean Aggression Against Ethiopia (Ethiopian Foreign Ministry; September, 1998)
- Viewpoint: A Grave Political Sin (by Amare; September 9, 1998)
- Despite Eritrean Protest, Upgraded Aircraft to be Supplied to Ethiopia
(Israel's Business Arena September 7, 1998) - Decision comes as Eritrean President is in Libya celebrating 29th anniversary of Gadhafi dictatorship. Eritrea has also endorsed Libya's position on the Lockerbie-PAN AM 109 issue.
- Gadhafi Watch: Eritrean President In Tripoli (September 6, 1998) - This is trip number 3 or 4 this year...
"TRIPOLI, Libya (PANA) - Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki arrived Sunday morning in Tripoli by plane to take part in the the 29th anniversary of the libyan revolution."
- Sports Break:
Haile Gebreselassie
Haile wins his Grand Prix final in Moscow and a 1/3 share of the million-dollar Golden League Jackpot. Haile also finished second in the overall Grand Prix standings (after Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj) and received a separate $100,000 prize as well as $50,000 for winning the 3,000 meter race.
(IAAF)
Gete Wami also won her race:
"The best race of the evening came in the women's 3,000 where Moroccan Zohra Ouaziz overtook race leader Gete Wami of Ethiopia with two laps to go. Wami refused to be shaken off and came back strongly in the straight to win in eight minutes 40.11 seconds with Ouaziz clocking 8:40.45."(Reuters)
-
Ethiopians from US to bring half-a-million dollars for displaced (AFP - September 5, 1998)
- Eritrean Government Propaganda Proves to be False (September 5, 1998)
Week ending September 4, 1998:
- THE GRAVE DANGER OF ILLUSIONS ABOUT ERITREA (by M. Wray
Witten, JD MPA; August 1998)
- The Bunker Mentality of the Eritrean Leadership (by Selam Eshetu; September 3, 1998)
- Personal Testimony from Badme farmer
(Link to Spokesperson: Thursday September 03, 1998)
- Red Cross officials in eastern Sudan say that cross-border shelling from Eritrea has forced thousands of people to flee their homes (BBC: September 1, 1998)
- Sports Break: Haile seems relaxed in front of today's race in Berlin (Link to IAAF; September 1, 1998) Four to fight out million dollar bonus in Moscow (AFP - Haile wins in Berlin... Gete Wami (5,000m - 3rd place) and Kutre Dulecha (1,500m - 3rd place) also perform well. Gete Wami's time could be new Ethiopian national record.
- A Day to Celebrate a Mass Murderer (September 1, 1998)
- Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution 1.3 - Is Mediation Alien to Africa? (Link to article by Bethuel Kiplagat)
- Ethiopians Escape through Desert to Djibouti (Link to spokesperson's website - August 31, 1998) - More evidence of the plight of Ethiopians prevented from leaving Assab by the Eritrean government.
- Gadhafi Watch: Gadhafi accepts Lockerbie PAN-AM 109 resolution Eritrean-style; i.e., he gives ambiguous statements that seem to indicate acceptance, but it is now clear that he has no intention of cooperating with the US-British proposal. Clearly he has learned from the way Eritrea dealt with the US-Rwanda peace plan.
Week ending Friday, August 28, 1998:
- Sports Break: Complete IAAF Golden League results from Brussels
- Haile Gebreselassie sets personal best in 3,000 meters at Brussels. Click here for
photo of Haile at Brussels. Two more events left for the million-dollar golden league prize: Berlin (Sep. 1) and Moscow (Sep. 5)
- Daniel Komen defeated by Assefa Mezgebu in the 5,000 meters; Assefa has now come of age and confirmed the talent he showed as world junior champion 2 yrs ago... prospects look golden for Sydney Olympics in year 2000....
- In the 10,000 meters, Kenyans Tergat and Koech, failed to reclaim Haile's record. Eritrean-American Mebrahtom Keflezighi (representing the US) also competed in this race.
- Eritrea says it has released 71 Ethiopian soldiers (Reuters, August 28, 1998) Click here to read a a commentary on the above article
- USAID - Satellite Rainfall Analysis for the Horn of Africa ( - updated three times each month... 1998 appears to be fairly good rainfall year in Ethiopia and Eritrea)
- Conflict FAQs - Draft Version (For your review, August 26, 1998)
- Resolution on The Eritrean/Ethiopian Conflict - African Union of Parliaments (Issued by the 35th Session of the Executive Committee and the 21st Conference of the Union of African Parliaments; Niamey, Niger, 18th-20th August, 1998.)
- 530 More Ethiopians Return from Eritrea (Xinhua, August 25, 1998)
- Statements at UN commission meeting at Geneva (August 24, 1998) - Eritrean delegation has been tearing down posters showing the results of their deliberate cluster-bombing of Mekele
- Hundreds of Eritreans flee across river border (Reuters: August 24, 1998)
- Background: Eritrea: Historiography and Mythology - Part II (P. Gilkes, African Affairs, v90, no.361 1991)
Week ending Friday, August 21, 1998:
- Eritrea's economy: challenging structural problems (U.S. Embassy Asmara, Eritrea, March 1998)
Quote: "Creating jobs and developing opportunities for Eritrea's youth are serious challenges. This is especially difficult in the current environment, with no export growth, few new firms being created, and downsizing by the government and most companies."
- Background: Eritrea: Historiography and Mythology - Part I (P. Gilkes, African Affairs, v90, no.361 1991)
- Analysis: Miscalculations in the EPLF Regime's Aggression Against Ethiopia (abridged translation from The Reporter, a private Amharic-language weekly; August 10, 1998)
- Viewpoint: Eritrea and Ethiopia: From Cooperation to Competition (Tekeste Negash; May 2, 1998)... wriiten before the war.
- An Eye Witness account of the Container Carnage at Assab (August 18, 1998)
- Eritrea Demands Elbit be Prevented from Supplying Upgraded Aircraft to Ethiopia (Israel's Business Arena; August 17, 1998)... Comment: this article contains many errors, (such as saying that Sudan and Eritrea are allies). The aircraft deal is avionics upgrade not a maintenace contract. In any case, Israel cannot interfere with a deal between Romania and Ethiopia which only tangentially involves Elbit. If indeed the deal is blocked, Ethiopia can still award the contract to one of the Russian companies that had participated in the original bid. See the Aug, 6 news update for more information on this issue.
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The news items posted here are selected reports that cover significant developments. More information can generally be found by using the various sources in the newsstand.
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