The force commander of the UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia [UNMEE] has revealed that allegations made by the weyane [Ethiopian] regime to cover up its preparations for war that Eritrea had moved army divisions into the Temporary Security Zone [TSZ], were baseless. The force commander revealed this at the 25th meeting of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Military Coordination Commission.

The [Eritrean] commissioner for coordination with the UN peacekeepers, Brig-Gen Abrahaley Kifle, who attended the military meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on 5 July, said the meeting discussed issues pertaining to the military situation in the past two months and incidents of violations of agreements on the cessation of hostilities within the TSZ. According to a report by the UNMEE force commander, units of the weyane army are constantly violating the TSZ under the pretext of losing their way.

Though, based on recorded number of incidents of violations of agreements and lack of cooperation with the peacekeepers, the report said the TSZ was relatively calm, Brig-Gen Abrahaley said the meeting ascertained that compared with the objectives and magnitude of the incidents of violations, the report was incomplete. Warning that the constant incidents of violations of agreements would degenerate into major ones, the Eritrean delegation urged UNMEE to clearly and officially reveal the situation.

Meanwhile, Brig-Gen Abrahaley Kifle told the Eritrean News Agency that the weyane regime was continuously massing troops and conducting intensive military training and expanding resettlement areas in Badme and its environs. Brig-Gen Abrahaley added that the fact that the weyane regime was increasing its military presence in Badme and the remarks made this week by the regime's prime minister in an interview that the choice would be dialogue or war, showed the regime's preparations for war.

Brig-Gen Abrahaley said though the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission had ordered the weyane regime to remove its settlers from Badme by September 2002, the regime was instead increasing its military presence and resettlement activities in the area.

Source: Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, in Tigrinya 1700 gmt 10 Jul 04

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