UN quash fears that Ethiopia is preparing to attack Eritrea

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Jan 6, 2005 (AP) — Recent military movements in Ethiopia weren’t for offensive operations, a U.N. official said Thursday, aiming to ease fears that the nation was preparing for war with Eritrea .

The assurance came days after Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki claimed Ethiopia was preparing for war by making unusual military movements.

Sissel Ekaas, deputy head of the U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea , said the military movements were reported to the mission in advance and occurred at least 15 kilometers from the demilitarized zone that separates the two Horn of Africa nations.

The buffer zone was set up at the end of their 1998-2000 border war, which cost each country an estimated $1 million a day and left some 70,000 people dead.

“This statement by President Isaias is his analysis and his interpretation. He sees this as perhaps preparations for war,” Ekaas told reporters in Ethiopia and Eritrea via a satellite video link.

“Our monitoring and observations on the ground does not give any ground or evidence to say that there is mass mobilization, that there are offensive, aggressive positioning of troops. We cannot find any evidence of that,” she said.

The two nations are deadlocked over the decision of the boundary commission to award the town of Badme to Eritrea – the source of their border war. The commission is part of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague, Netherlands.

Ethiopia has said it “in principle” accepts the commission’s ruling, but insists it will not cede any territory.

This angered Isaias, who told the state-run Eritrean Radio on New Year’s Day that war is the only alternative to implementing the commission’s ruling.

The U.N. mission is “concerned and continue to tell the diplomatic community that we have to continuing to engage with the two parties to find a lasting solution to this crisis.”