Eritrea says redeployment to 6 May positions complete

During talks on Thursday with the current chairman of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Algeria, President Isayas Afewerki said that Eritrea had completed the redeployment of its forces to positions held before 6 May 1998, in compliance with calls from the OAU, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. It said that Bouteflika had informed Isayas that Ethiopia was demanding the withdrawal of Eritrean forces “from additional places referred to as Bada and Bure”.

Isayas had said that both Bada and Bure were undisputed Eritrean territory, but the statement said “Eritrea commits itself to re-deploy its troops from Bada and Bure in order to deny Ethiopia any pretext... Eritrea’s redeployment from these areas is being done on the basis of the OAU Framework Agreement and the Modalities of Implementation, which state that redeployment does not pre-judge the status of the territories concerned.” Eritrea had earlier published letters between Isayas and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi dated August 1997, which allude to a dispute over territories in the Bada area, predating the Badme clash which precipitated the war almost a year later. Ethiopia was at the time engaged in a counter-insurgency campaign against ethnic Afar rebels in the Bada area. Bouteflika, who left Asmara on Friday for Addis Ababa for talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, said in a statement that Eritrea had agreed to resume proximity talks in Algeria on Monday, Reuters news agency reported.