Envoy warns of fresh outbreak of fighting

UN special envoy Richard Holbrooke warned as he left Asmara that Eritrea and Ethiopia could be on the verge of fresh conflict. According to Reuters, he said “we are very close to a resumption of hostilities and the outbreak of a new round of fighting”. Holbrooke said new fighting would lead to carnage on the battlefield and exacerbate a hunger crisis. He made the comments to local and international journalists at Asmara airport on Wednesday, when shuttle diplomacy between the two countries failed to make progress after a breakdown of peace talks. The US ambassador to the UN has been heading a seven-member team from the Security Council to try and get the two countries to resume peace talks. He said if the fighting resumed after two years of hostilities, it would constitute “the largest war on the African continent”, reports Reuters.