By GUEBRAY BERHANE, Agence France-Presse
ADDIS ABABA (July 6, 1998 09:09 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - The United States announced here that it is still seeking a solution to the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, but war preparations continued, with Ethiopia sending a surgical team to the front lines.
"The United States, in concert with other organizations and countries, continues to seek a solution to the problem," U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn told the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) Sunday.
In an interview with Merewa, a newspaper produced in both Amharic and English, Shinn said President Clinton had been personally involved in attempts to defuse the crisis and had played a key role in persuading both sides to accept an agreement on June 15 to end airstrikes.
The United States and Rwanda put forward a peace plan on June 3 which called for neutral demarcation of the ill-defined border, which is some 600 miles long, and a withdrawal of Eritrean troops from disputed positions.
The Organization of African Unity (OAU) endorsed that plan, with the presidents of Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe and Rwanda and the foreign minister of Djibouti shuttling between Addis Ababa and Asmara in a bid to persuade both sides to accept it.
But the plan foundered on June 19 when Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki refused to pull his troops back, and Rwanda subsequently withdrew from a follow-up mediation bid by OAU ambassadors.
"Ethiopia has accepted and responded positively to the proposed peace initiatives and has accepted all of the recommendations and implementation steps proposed by the U.S.-Rwandan facilitation team," Shinn said.
"If there is instability in Ethiopia, it's a certainty there will be instability throughout the Horn of Africa," he warned.
The health administration bureau meanwhile announced that it was sending an 11-strong medical team, including surgeons and anesthetists, to the front lines to treat soldiers and civilians displaced by the fighting.
Addis Ababa says 186,000 Ethiopian civilians have fled their homes near the border since the war erupted on May 6, and is warning that the number of displaced could reach 300,000.
Relief agencies are meanwhile preparing massive operations along the border, with the U.N. World Food Program planning to feed more than four million Ethiopians.
The initial fighting resulted in several hundred deaths, reliable sources said, but only two minor clashes have been reported since June 11.
Troops are dug in along both sides of the border, and on Saturday more than 5,000 volunteers left Addis Ababa for military training camps before going on to the front lines.
The United Nations, the six-nation Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the six-nation Community of Sahelo-Saharan States, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and Italy have all offered mediation.