From: "DAWIT ISAYAS"
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com (EthioForum Mailing List)
Subject: [EthioForum] - Re: A Weekend is...; Prof. Asrat free?
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 22:58:39 +0300
Reply-To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com
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Greetings all:
Today I attended a very interesting meeting for Americans residing in Addis at the American embassy here. I will try to highlight some of the key info. from the meeting in this post.
1. Embassy confirmed that Eritrea had started the aggression by launching a military campaign against Badme.
2. Embassy agreed that the border points under question had been administered by Ethiopia for over 100 years.
3. Confirmed that a school had been bombed and suggested that the actual target may have been a Hospital. Either way the Northern [Eritrean] regime seemed to be targeting civilians.
4. Confirmed that two cities had been bombed [Makele and Axum] and said that Eritrean terrorists were caught trying to bomb a factory in Adowa.
5. Said Eritreans had rigged trainer jets to carry bombs and that no MIGs were being used. These trainers are fighting Kamikaze style and cannot be used for in a long term confrontation.
6. Confirmed that one Eritrean and one Ethiopian plane had been downed and said other Eritrean planes were destroyed on the ground.
7. Said that a lot of damaged was done in Asmara to the airport while very little was down to airports in Makele and Axum.
8. Confirmed that Meles and the government had agreed to negotiations and were using restraint under trying conditions and suggesting the Eritreans were giving lip service to negotiations and trying to manipulate the Media while constantly engaging in attacks.
9. More than 30,000 Ethiopians had been displaced. The embassy did not give an estimate for the number of casualties.
In other news a local paper reported that Eritreans entering Ethiopia now need visas.
I would also like to add a small commentary to this post. That Dehai is based in Eritrea gives the government a big advantage. They have been posting information and propaganda up almost immediately. Many Eritreans on the outside have focused their version of what is taking place from this source. Censorship has prevented the Ethiopian government from doing the same. I think many of us are critical of the government for this reason or that, mainly because of human rights issues and economic policies but this is because we want what's best for the region. This government has to find ways of reaching out and including those who disagree with it and who want to offer constructive criticism so that the necessary institutions and capacity exist to react more efficiently to crisis and other issues.
The Ethiopian community on the outside has to assert equal amounts of pressure on the media in order to neutralize the Dehai lobby. Otherwise, the media may tend to give into the pressure.
Dawit..