Filed at 3:28 p.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
ASMARA, Eritrea (AP) -- About 100 frightened Ethiopians hovered outside their embassy Thursday, pleading for travel documents to escape the hostility that has surged against them with the fighting between their country and neighboring Eritrea.
``I want to go home,'' one desperate young Ethiopian cried through a locked grillwork fence. ``I'm afraid.''
The two Horn of Africa nations, which less than a decade ago were part of the same country, are battling over several stretches of border land.
On Thursday, Eritrean aircraft bombed the northern Ethiopian town of Adigrat, killing at least one person and wounding three, while ground troops clashed on two fronts.
The fighting that begin May 6 comes amid growing international efforts to prevent the border clashes from escalating into a full-scale war. A U.S. team and Rwandan Vice President Paul Kagame were in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Thursday, and were expected in Asmara on Friday.
Tensions were high among many of the 100,000 Ethiopians living in Eritrea, plus hundreds of migrant workers attracted by construction and domestic work.
Most are from Ethiopia's northern province of Tigray, whose people many Eritreans blame for the conflict. Many Tigrayans complain they have been insulted by Eritreans, who call them ``Agame,'' the name of a region of Tigray that has come to mean beggar or traitor.
Amanuel Madera Hagas, a construction worker, said he was fired and kicked out of his home when the conflict broke out last month, and is now hungry and sleeping on the streets.
``I want to go home,'' he said. But he lost his travel pass, and was among the crowd waiting for the overworked embassy staff to provide replacement papers. Other Ethiopians say Eritrean soldiers have torn up their identity papers.
The embassy has issued 500 pass cards in a week. As in much of Africa, many Ethiopians do not have passports and are allowed to travel with identity cards or travel passes.
Even those with the proper papers have been unable to leave. Nine buses have been turned back at the Adiqual border post on the way to Tigray for security concerns, the government said.
Most Ethiopians in Eritrea apparently are staying, for now.
``I've lived here for a long time and have had no problems,'' said an Ethiopian accountant who has been in Eritrea for 58 of his 72 years. But he was uneasy and did not want to be named.
In Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian government has accused Eritrea of expelling 3,000 Ethiopians, a charge denied in Asmara.
Ethiopian officials also informed the Eritrean Foreign Ministry that 19 Ethiopians have been missing since hostilities began.
A driver for the closed Ethiopian Consulate in the port of Massawa was released Thursday after one week in detention. Police then arrested the embassy's driver in Asmara.
Yemane Gebremeskel, presidential spokesman, countered that Ethiopia has detained and interrogated at least 20 staff members of the Eritrean Embassy in Addis Ababa since Sunday.
Yemane said the government has broadcast messages on state-run radio urging Eritreans to respect Ethiopians.
Also Thursday, Eritrea called on the U.N. Security Council in New York to do all it can to stop the clashes, accusing Ethiopia of threatening to strike boats in its ports and planes in its airspace.