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Eritrea Committed to Resolving Conflicts With Ethiopia Peacefully: FM
Eritrean Foreign Minister Haile Woldetensae said on Tuesday his country is committed to working for peace to settle the border dispute with neighboring Ethiopia in line with the peace initiative of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
However, he accused Ethiopia of attempting to invade Eritrea.
The Eritrean minister, who leads his country's delegation to the indirect talks with Ethiopia, was quoted by the Algerian News Agency as saying the talks in Algiers are a good opportunity to establish peace in the region.
The indirect talks started on Tuesday.
Woldetensae praised the efforts made by Algerian President and current OAU chief Abdelaziz Bouteflika to stop the Eritrean-Ethiopian fighting and disengage the warring sides to the positions of June 6, 1998. He accused Ethiopia of trying to occupy Eritrea, pointing out that the attacks launched by Ethiopia on Monday targeted not only military but also civilian sites. On the contrary, Ethiopia refuted that the attacks were directed to military positions only.
The Algiers indirect talks between Eritrea and Ethiopia are being held under the auspices of Au-Yahya, Bouteflika's personal envoy.
The first round of talks, held early May, failed to achieve any positive result, thus leading to the resumption of fierce fighting between the two neighbors in the Horn of Africa.
The shuttle diplomacy conducted by Bouteflika between Addis Ababa and Asmara from May 24 to 26 and his talks with top leaders of the two sides led to their agreement on May 26 to resumption of the peace talks in Algiers.
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