Back to Square One?
By: Ben
According to the Nov 16 news article, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Mr. Mesfin told UNSC (United Nations Security Council) Eritrean govt. is amassing its regular forces to the Ethiopian border. Dr. Abdulmejid Hussien, Ethiopian Representative at UN, elaborated the allegation further by stating the army's presence is in "thousands". As Pravda quoted Mr. Mesfin, the numbers of Shaebia solders stationed in the TSZ (Temporary Security Zone) are over 30,000(1). Yes, that is right! Over 30,000 regular Eritrean solders are in the TSZ, which was meant to be "military-free-zone". As we learned from Mr. Mesfin's letter to UNSC, Eritrea is bringing its troops back into the TSZ "including senior officers."(2)
Due to the failure of Ethiopian negotiating team back in June 2000, there was no any clause in the Algiers Agreement which limits the number of Eritrean "police" and "militia" in the TSZ. Thus, as far as Shaebia names its regular forces as "militia" and "police", they are even allowed to pile up in hundreds of thousands. For this enormous number of "militia" presence in the TSZ all the UNMEE representative said was "Eritrea has the right to have police and militia in the TSZ and the Agreements that the two parties signed do not stipulate what the numbers of these police and militia should be. ...The number has not been specified by the Agreements. There is no specific number"(3).
Hence, after leaving that major loophole to be exploited in the Algiers Agreement, now a year later, Mr. Mesfin warns us that there is a major Eritrean army presence in the TSZ. As a matter of fact, this was one of the pivotal reasons why many concerned citizens forewarned EPRDF led government not to sign the document. However, since it was the very last days in power for the Former American President Bill Clinton and the photo ceremony was needed for his legacy, everything had to be sprinted. Couple of days before the Algiers Agreement was signed, I authored a commentary stating "Before signing any documents on Dec 12, 2000, the Ethiopian leadership MUST explain to Ethiopians, in detail, what these documents are all about. I don't even see the point of rushing to sign these documents, now, while our people are languishing in Eritrean Concentration camps". If my memory is still clear, EPRDF dominated Parliament "discussed" on this weighty document just for half-a-day.
Nevertheless there are over 30,000 regular Eritrean solders in the TSZ (as we learned so far) in the guise of militia, and even though the TSZ isn't all the way 25km wide (UNMEE spokesman with his diplomatic expertise put it as "it could be a bit less here and a bit more there.") Ethiopian leadership acknowledged the TSZ establishment by saying "The Temporary Security Zone although established, is not functional"(5). How on earth one say "it is established " while the prerequisites to create the zone aren't met yet ? In the event that there is no a minimum of 25 Km stretch between the two armies, as long as our farmers are within Eritrea's artillery range, how can one inform UNSC "the TSZ was established "? The whole objective of the security guarantee was to keep Eritrean army in positions beyond the artillery range of our pre-May 6, 1998 positions. I used the word minimum because P.M. Meles on his May 22, 2000 Diplomatic briefing asserted "at least 25 km".
"when the peacekeeping troops arrive, they will be deployed on Eritrean territory, given that the OAU agreement requires the Eritrean troops to be at least 25 kilometers from the positions to which the Ethiopian defense forces will redeploy" (6)Another very disturbing development we learned from the UNSC meeting was Ethiopia now waived its vigorous stand on the cases of POWs. On July 31, 2001 Ethiopia halted exchanging POWs until the whereabouts of its cardinal pilot, Colonel Bezabeh Petros becomes known. A top official from Ministry of Foreign affairs told BBC "We know he was alive after the plane crashed as the Eritreans paraded him like a trophy around the streets of Asmara". Many Ethiopians also honored the government for its firm stand. However, due to Westerns influence the govt. shifted diametrically and announced "Last week only 23 were released, and more will be released." (5)Why abandoning our hero in the hands of Shaebia? Doesn't this betrayal damage the morale of our defense forces? Wasn't this honorable pilot took the risk of flying very low to smash the Eritrean Air Force base? Wasn't it to destroy the evil force that massacred elementary school children in broad day light? Why the backtracking now? Yes, this is awfully disturbing!
The matter of Ethiopians who are still languishing in Eritrea's Concentration Camps is also a major worrisome. What did the Ethiopian leadership achieve in that regard for the past 18 months? Why our military forces' pulling out of Senafe and other incontestable parts of Eritrea haven't been used for bargaining to liberate them?
These are the sort of questions we want clear rejoinders from Ethiopian leadership. Again, before we go to all out war, the govt. should tell us that what is our assurance for our success on the field to be implemented in the political arena? If indeed we proceed to the inevitable war, what are the guarantees for our army not to be ordered to return from Barentu? What are the surety that we won't leave back Ethiopians in the Eritrea's Nazi camps? How do we know that we don't betray our men in uniform for Western influence? Even though true to our obligation that we all stand together if the well being our nation is threatened, we want also to remind our leaders not to move an inch from our starting slogan: We'll never negotiate over sovereignty.
Finally, before I wrap up, I would like to comment on the interesting response given by P.M. Meles Zenawi to the Special Representative for the Secretary-General. When Mr. Joseph Legwaila persuaded Mr. Meles to help him de-escalate the rhetoric in his country, His Excellency responded by saying "Mr. Special Representative, don't worry, the armies of Ethiopia and Eritrea are very disciplined, they are not going to fight because we are insulting each other." (4)
My humble advice to our P.M. is to speak solely for Ethiopia. Calling Eritrean army "very disciplined" is adding salt on the wounds of countless Ethiopians who suffered in the hands of this wicked army. The mothers who lost their babies at Ayder, the civilians of Adigrat, or Ethiopians who are still languishing in Eritrea's Concentration camps hardly buy the "discipline" of Shaebian army. At least that is not what I saw in Zala Ambessa(8)! After this ruthless army successfully demolished the whole city, what they left behind was a writing on the leftover of the church. It reads like....."NEHENA ERITRAWIYANEKO" ( its direct translation - We Eritreans!! )
(1) http://english.pravda.ru/politics/2001/11/24/21852.html
(2) http://allafrica.com/stories/200105110134.html
(3) http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/unmee/pc161101.htm
(4) http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/unmee/pc231101.htm
(5) http://www.un.int/ethiopia/eth_page/sm1116_1.htm
(6) http://www.ethiospokes.net/Backgrnd/Articles/June2000/g2106001.htm
(7) http://www.ethiospokes.net/Backgrnd/Articles/June2000/g1506001.htm
(8) http://www.ethiopiafirst.com/news2000/Oct/Zalanbesa.html
[Opinions in this article are solely that of the writer.]