OWN CORRESPONDENT , Washington | Friday 9.00am.
UNITED States President Bill Clinton called the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea ”senseless” and urged them to back down from armed confrontation.
The two Horn of Africa nations, Ethiopia and Eritrea first came to blows two years ago when a dispute over border territory erupted into a full scale war.
It settled into an uneasy stand-off — with diplomats from the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations attempting to broker a ceasefire — until last Friday when Ethiopia launched its latest offensive.
Clinton called the renewed conflict one of a number of ”tragic developments” in Africa.
”Two of Africa’s poorest but most promising nations, Ethiopia and Eritrea, resumed their senseless war. For over two years we’ve worked with the OAU to resolve that dispute. We won’t abandoning that effort,” Clinton said.
”But Ethiopia and Eritrea must first see that backing away from self-destruction is not the same thing as backing down. Giving your people a future is not cowardice, it’s common sense and courage,” he said.
Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, visited Eritrea three years ago and met with women veterans of the country’s war for independence from Ethiopia, discussing with them their struggle to convert from the military to civilian life. — Reuters