Ethiopia's Intentions to Unleash War Cannot Be Disguised
Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Asmara, 15 January 1999 Press Release

The Government of Eritrea had issued a statement on January
12 warning of Ethiopia’s planned attack against Eritrea. This
warning is based on various indicators including tangible
activities on the ground, reports leaked by Western intelligence
sources and accounts of defecting Ethiopian soldiers whose
number is increasing each day.

But, in characteristic fashion, the Ethiopian Government is trying
to deny these facts, accusing Eritrea of "drawing attention to a
fictitious impending offensive." It has moreover resorted to
well-known distortions to portray Eritrea as desirous of
impeding the OAU peace process underway. In reality, however,

1.It is Ethiopia which has inexplicably declared on 6 January
1999 that the "peace process has come to an end." This
happened despite the fact that the OAU High-Level
Delegation remains seized of the border dispute in
accordance with the decision of the Central Organ. Eritrea
has explicitly reaffirmed, through its letter of December 18,
its desire to cooperate with the OAU to promote the
process underway.

2. The OAU has not "ascertained that Eritrea is the
aggressor" as the Ethiopian statement falsely asserts.
Paragraph 7 of the OAU proposal, indeed, reads: "In
order to determine the origins of the conflict, an
investigation be carried out on the incidents of 6 May
1998 and any other incident prior to that date which could
have contributed to a misunderstanding between the two
Parties regarding their common border, including the
incidents of July-August 1997." Eritrea has welcomed this
proposal. But Ethiopia has been opposed to any
investigation because it knows that it was the aggressor
party, which launched the unprovoked attack on May 6,
1998, and the party that committed aggression in Bada
and Badme in July 1997.

3. It was Ethiopia that escalated the armed clashes in
Badme to the entire boundary between the two countries:
declaring total war on May 13th; launching an attack on the
Zalambessa front on May 31, 1998; and, the first air strike
on Asmara on 5 June 1998.

4. Finally, Ethiopia has rejected the call for a cessation of
hostilities although this is the primary point in the OAU
proposal as well as UN Security Council resolutions.

Indeed, if Ethiopia has no intentions of launching war, then it
should have no qualms on agreeing to a cessation of hostilities,
including a total ban on air strikes.