Saturday, June 27, 1998; 10:28 p.m. EDT
Associated Press
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Congo's president failed in the latest of several diplomatic bids to end a border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, an Ethiopian government spokeswoman said Saturday.
Congolese President Laurent Kabila met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Friday, and urged them to accept a plan endorsed by the Organization of African Unity, Selome Tadesse said.
``As a good friend of the two countries, President Kabila tried to convince President Isaias to accept the OAU-endorsed peace proposal, but I don't think he had luck,'' she said.
The plan originally drafted by the United States and Rwanda calls for Eritrea to unilaterally withdraw from territory where hostilities broke out May 6.
Eritrea has refused, insisting it is rightfully on land defined by boundaries drawn by Italy when it occupied Eritrea in 1885. Isaias has called for a cease-fire, demilitarization of disputed territory monitored by independent observers and demarcation of the border.
Ethiopia, which has accepted the U.S.-Rwanda proposal, refuses to engage in peace talks until Eritrea withdraws.
Kabila's attempt to mediate was ``a personal initiative,'' Selome said.
Selome said the front was quiet Saturday.
Also Saturday, Iran volunteered to try to resolve the conflict. Libya, Tunisia and Egypt have previously offered, and the OAU has appointed the presidents of Burkina Faso, Zambia, Rwanda and Djibouti as envoys.