DATE=7/28/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-236140
TITLE=ETHIOPIA-ERITREA MEDIATION (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: EAST AFRICAN LEADERS ARE CALLING ON ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA
TO END THEIR 12-WEEK-LONG BORDER WAR. FROM NAIROBI, V-O-A'S
SCOTT STEARNS REPORTS KENYA IS TRYING TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN
THE TWO SIDES.
TEXT: KENYAN PRESIDENT DANIEL ARAP MOI AND DJIBOUTIAN PRESIDENT
HASSAN GOULED APTIDON URGED ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA TO STOP
FIGHTING, SAYING THEIR BORDER WAR IS A THREAT TO REGIONAL
SECURITY.
BEFORE THE CONFLICT, BOTH ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA WERE BIG PLAYERS
IN THE REGIONAL ALLIANCE CALLED "IGAD." THE CURRENT IGAD
CHAIRMAN -- PRESIDENT APTIDON -- SAYS THE ALLIANCE WILL HOLD A
HEADS-OF-STATE SUMMIT TO DISCUSS THE CONFLICT.
IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS, KENYAN PRESIDENT MOI HAS MET SEPARATELY IN
NAIROBI WITH ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER MELES ZENAWI AND ERITREAN
PRESIDENT ISAYAS AFEWORKI. KENYAN FOREIGN MINISTER BONAYA GODANA
SAYS PRESIDENT MOI IS TRYING TO HELP TWO COLLEAGUES OUT OF A JAM.
/// FIRST GODANA ACT ///
IN A SENSE, THE TWO COUNTRIES HAVE GOT INTO A SITUATION
WHICH, IT IS CLEAR TO US, NONE OF THEM REALLY WANTED TO
GET INTO.
/// END ACT ///
AFTER WEEKS OF HEAVY FIGHTING AND BOMBING RAIDS ACROSS THE ROCKY
BORDER, ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA HAVE COME TO AN UNEASY TRUCE, BOTH
SIDES DUG IN WITH TROOPS AND HEAVY ARMOR.
KENYAN FOREIGN MINISTER GODANA SAYS THE GOAL NOW IS TO USE THAT
STAND-OFF AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE BOTH MEN AN HONORABLE WAY OUT
OF A CONFLICT BETWEEN LONG-TIME ALLIES.
/// SECOND GODANA ACT ///
I THINK BOTH PARTIES REALIZE THAT WAR WILL HAVE SERIOUS
REPERCUSSIONS FOR BOTH ECONOMIES. THE VERY FACT THAT
THEY HAVE HAD THIS STAND-OFF FOR A WHILE IS INDICATIVE
TO US THAT THEY WILL WANT TO FIND AN HONORABLE WAY OUT.
// OPT // OF COURSE, BOTH HAVE LOCAL CONSTITUENCIES,
DOMESTIC CONSTITUENCIES, WHICH THEY WILL HAVE TO CARRY
ALONG. // END OPT //
/// END ACT ///
MR. MELES AND MR. ISAYAS FOUGHT TOGETHER AGAINST MARXIST DICTATOR
MENGISTU HAILE MARIAM. MR. MENGISTU FELL IN 1991, AND ERITREA
DECLARED ITS INDEPENDENCE TWO YEARS LATER. BUT THERE WAS NO
CLEAR MAP BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES, AND A SMALL BORDER CONFLICT HAS
SPARKED A FIGHT, FUELED BY BROADER ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
RESENTMENT.
ERITREAN TROOPS CAPTURED THE BORDER TOWN OF BADAME IN EARLY MAY.
FOREIGN MINISTER GODANA SAYS ITS STATUS REMAINS THE MAIN STICKING
POINT BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES.
/// THIRD GODANA ACT ///
FOR THE ERITREANS, THERE SHOULD BE NO WITHDRAWAL
BEFORE DISCUSSIONS, AND WITHDRAWAL SHOULD BE PART OF THE
LARGER PACKAGE OF DISENGAGEMENT OF FORCES,
DEMILITARIZATION AND DIRECT TALKS. FOR THE ETHIOPIANS,
THEY WILL ACCEPT DEMILITARIZATION, DISENGAGEMENT OF
FORCES AND DIRECT TALKS -- BUT AFTER WITHDRAWAL FROM
BADAME. SO IN A SENSE, THIS IS THE STICKY ISSUE.
/// END ACT ///
MR. GODANA SAYS KENYAN DIPLOMACY IS NOT A NEW INITIATIVE BUT IS
MEANT IN SUPPORT OF NEGOTIATIONS BY THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN
UNITY. // REST OPT // HE SAYS EVERYONE IN EAST AFRICA IS
CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF THESE TWO HIGHLY-MECHANIZED
ARMIES GO TO ALL-OUT WAR.
/// FOURTH GODANA ACT ///
THE ETHIOPIA, SOMALI, ERITREA REGION AND SUDAN HAS KNOWN
CONFLICT FOR SO LONG, TREMENDOUS HUMAN SUFFERING, WE
THOUGHT WITH THE SETTLEMENT BETWEEN ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA
FOR ONCE THERE WERE SIGNS THAT THE REGION WAS GOING TO
SETTLE DOWN TO PEACE. NOW, FULL-SCALE WAR BETWEEN THE
TWO COUNTRIES COULD HAVE COLOSSAL, DISASTROUS EFFECTS
FOR THE ENTIRE REGION IN TERMS OF FALLOUT.
/// END ACT ///
FOR NOW, ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA ARE BATTLING ON THE DIPLOMATIC
SCENE WITH ETHIOPIAN OFFICIALS IN EUROPE AND PRESIDENT ISAYAS IN
LIBYA AND EGYPT. KENYA SAYS IT WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH BOTH
COUNTRIES, NOT ONLY IN SOLVING THEIR OWN CONFLICT, BUT IN
REGIONAL TALKS ON THE FUTURE OF SOUTHERN SUDAN AS WELL.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SKS/PCF/WTW
28-Jul-98 6:43 AM EDT (1043 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America