Meles says for Ethiopia the war is over

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday that Ethiopia had achieved its objective of liberating all the lands occupied by Eritrea, Ethiopian radio reported. "Therefore, as far as Ethiopia is concerned, the war is over and the need now is to make efforts to establish peace," Meles said. Ethiopia was now ready for direct talks with Eritrea for the sake of
a lasting peace. The order issued to the army to withdraw from the western front was still holding, while the objective of the army on the eastern front was to protect and consolidate positions in the liberated areas. He said the army would remain in areas under its control on the central front near Zala Anbesa "until such time when we receive a guarantee from the
international community that there would be no attack from the Eritrean army on this front". As soon as this guarantee was secured, Ethiopia would withdraw its forces to positions before the invasion, Meles said. "In the meantime, our army has been given instructions that if there are any provocations on the part of the Eritrean army, it should feel free to deal
with them."