12:09 p.m. Jul 09, 1998 Eastern
By Tsegaye Tadesse
ADDIS ABABA, July 9 (Reuters) - Ethiopia on Thursday blasted as virulent propaganda comments by Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki in which he vowed never to withdraw from a disputed border territory.
Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse said the interview provoked the expulsion of 200 Ethiopian citizens from Eritrea, many of whom had been tortured or raped.
In the interview broadcast on Eritrean state television late on Wednesday, Afewerki said his country was ready to go to war and face adverse economic consequences if this was necessary.
``Even if the sun doesn't rise, we will never withdraw from Badme (on the disputed border),'' he said.
``We will try to negotiate, but if the war is not resolved soon we will take the unwanted steps, which will have consequences. It may be dangerous but we will take the necessary action.''
There have been no reports since June 11 of significant fighting in the border dispute that flared into conflict on May 6. But the dispute dividing the two former allies remains unresolved and both sides have used the lull to build reinforcements.
Hundreds have died and tens of thousands are displaced by the conflict that started around Badme at the northwestern end of the border and then spread to fronts at Zalambessa and south of Eritrea's Assab port on the Red Sea.
Selome said recent expulsions came after a barrage of ``virulent anti-Ethiopian propaganda by President Isayas Afewerki on radio and television on Wednesday (which was) intended to invoke violence against the Ethiopian people.''
Eritrea expelled the Ethiopians to Djibouti on Thursday after ``many of them were beaten, tortured, raped and robbed before they were thrown out of Eritrea,'' she said.
Another 600 languished in Eritrean prisons without access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Selome said.
Each side has accused the other of human rights violations in connection with nationals living in the each other's countries who have been detained or deported.
Ethiopia says Eritrea has expelled more than 4,000 Ethiopians since the conflict began while it acknowledges the expulsion of around 700 Eritreans accused of spying and fund-raising to help Eritrea's war effort.
The ICRC said on Thursday it had twice visited a camp at Fiche, central Ethiopia, for detained Eritreans. A total of 664 civilians and 163 prisoners of war were at the camp, ICRC said in a statement.
Both sides say they welcome mediation by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations.
A team of OAU ambassadors have held talks with both sides in a follow-up to an earlier OAU mission.
An initial plan by the United States and Rwanda, endorsed by the OAU and backed implicitly by the U.N. Security Council, was rejected by Eritrea in June.
Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano received an Ethiopian envoy on Wednesday, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the latest in a series of visits by leaders from both sides to foreign capitals.
Selome said Ethiopian delegations were visiting Europe to discuss the crisis.
Ethiopian media accused the Ethiopian rebel group Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) of siding with Eritrea.
Private and government newspapers said OLF Secretary-General Gelaso Dilbo met with Afewerki in Asmara and told an OLF conference he had decided to fight alongside Eritrea against Ethiopia.
This prompted a heated argument that led to the expulsion of nine top OLF members from Ethiopia, the private Zegabe newspaper said.
There was no independent confirmation of the reports. Ethiopian political observers argue most groups have rallied behind Prime Minister Meles Zenawi over the conflict.
Eritrean and Ethiopian rebels joined forces to defeat Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia after a referendum in 1993.