/ 9 March 1999

ETHIOPIA DOUBTS ERITREAN PEACE TALK

ETHIOPIAN Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has warned African diplomats that he views Eritrea’s acceptance of a peace plan in their border dispute “with skepticism,” national television reported on Monday. Eritrea’s acceptance “lacks clarity and is open to interpretation,” Zenawi told African delegates from the Organisation for African Unity, which drew up the plan. Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki made the surprise announcement in early March that his side will accept the OAU framework accord in a letter to the United Nations Security Council. Addis Ababa accepted the plan in November. Both sides remain in occupation of disputed territory along their common border.