By Matthew Bigg
ADDIS ABABA, June 27 (Reuters) - Ethiopian citizens expelled from the Eritrean port town of Assab complained on Saturday they had been mistreated by both sides in a seven-week border conflict between the Horn of Africa neighbours.
They accused Eritrean authorities of deporting them with little warning, administering beatings and confiscating property, but also said Ethiopia had neglected to provide support.
Their accusations came as Ethiopia and Eritrea traded a fresh war of words over the expulsion and detention of civilians living in each other's countries and the U.N. Security Council condemned the conflict.
Ethiopian returnees billeted in disused military barracks in Addis Ababa accused the authorities of leaving them to fend for themselves without food, proper shelter or mattresses.
On Saturday some crouched on a dirt floor in the long barrack hall and said their worst problem was the cold, since they had lived at Assab on the Red Sea and were unused to the climate in the Ethiopian capital, a city set up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level.
``When we arrived here nobody treated us well because they said we were the lost people,'' said Tsahinesh Abera, who had brought her four children back from Assab.
``When things went well in Eritrea they treated us well, but when things went badly they treated us like dogs.
``Now we don't know who we are, whether Eritreans or Ethiopians,'' she said. Her three-room house, small grocery store and business videos had all been confiscated, she said.
Other returnees who had worked at Assab port said their troubles began when Ethiopia stopped trading through the port early on in the conflict.
With no work the local authorities expelled them. Yusef Ali said he was jailed for two days and beaten with sticks and rifle butts before his expulsion.
On Friday Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse accused Eritrea of mistreating more than 600 civilian detainees.
``Though they have committed no offence they continue to be exposed to the worst form of torture, atrocities and inhumane treatment and are denied freedom to leave Eritrea,'' she said in a statement.
A further 400 Ethiopians living in Eritrea had been expelled to the Afar region of northeastern Ethiopia, part of more than 4,000 expelled since the conflict began, she said.
In turn, the Eritrean News Agency (ENA) accused Ethiopia in a statement from Asmara of ordering the families of men and women already deported to leave within one month and mortgage their businesses.
But Eritreans living in Addis Ababa said on Friday they had seen no evidence of harassment beyond the expulsion earlier this month of some of their fellow citizens.
Eritrea said that 1,151 of its citizens have been expelled from Ethiopia. A further 664 are detained at an internment camp at Fiche north of Addis Ababa, according to officials at the Ethiopian camp.
The Security Council on Friday, in its first resolution on the conflict, unanimously condemned the use of force by Ethiopia and Eritrea and demanded both sides immediately cease hostilities.
The conflict broke out on May 6 over a contested territory around the town of Badme on the western border. Hundreds have died, although there have been no reports of significant fighting since June 11.
The Security Council welcomed a commitment to a moratorium on the use and threat of air strikes and urged both sides to cooperate fully with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to find a peaceful settlement.
Four African Presidents visited Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on June 19 under an OAU initiative based on proposals by the United States and Rwanda.
Afewerki spurned that initiative, rejecting a clause calling on Eritrea to withdraw to territory it held before May 6.
In the latest attempt at mediation, Laurent Kabila, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo paid a flying visit to both the Eritrean and Ethiopian capitals on Friday.