Ethiopia doubtful about Eritrean assurances

An Ethiopian Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday expressed doubts about the sincerity of Eritrea’s withdrawal pledge, accusing Asmara of indulging in “what has become a despicable farce”. It said that if Asmara were truly committed to withdrawing its troops from all Ethiopian lands, it would simply do it, rather than profess an intention to do so. The statement said: “Ethiopia wishes to make it clear that even now large chunks of territory in the eastern and north-eastern part of Ethiopia... are still occupied by Eritrea. The war can only come to an end when Ethiopia has verified that Eritrea has removed its forces of occupation from all the remaining Ethiopian territory under its control. At the same time, Ethiopia wishes to reiterate that it has no desire to remain in Eritrean territory that it holds temporarily for the purpose of military expediency.”