Asmara slams demand for "guarantees"

Ethiopia has called on the international community to provide "firm guarantees" that Eritrea would "withdraw" from disputed border areas. An Ethiopian foreign ministry statement on Tuesday said Addis Ababa wanted Eritrea to "withdraw from every inch of Ethiopian land", a comment which Asmara on Wednesday dismissed as "a contradiction in terms and a violation of the fundamental tenets of the whole Framework Agreement". The Eritrean news agency Erina quoted presidential spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel as saying the "implication" of Ethiopia's statement "is clear". "The TPLF [Tigray People's Liberation Front] wants to legitimise Eritrean territory it has incorporated into its illegal map, thus circumventing demarcation," he said.