Calm on Ethiopian, Eritrean borders

The chairman of the Eritrean presidential office has announced that the situation is calm on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia since Tuesday morning and no fighting was reported.

AFP quoted the Eritrean spokesman as saying he is waiting for a delegation from the Organization of African Unity to visit Asmara today to hold talks with the Eritrean authorities concerning the peace plan proposed by the organization in November 1998 and accepted immediately by Ethiopia, while it was not approved by Eritrean President Assyas Afworki until February 27, in a message he sent to the UN Security Council.

The plan, however, proposes withdrawal of Eritrean troops from the district of Padmi in northwestern Ethiopia, where much of the fighting has taken place, the deployment of an international observation force and setting up a committee in charge of border demarcation between the two countries.

Meanwhile, press reports said on Tuesday that about one million Ethiopians gathered on Tuesday morning at Maskal square in Addis Ababa to celebrate the 103rd anniversary of Adwa battle against Italy and the victory of the Ethiopian Army last Friday against the Eritrean forces in Padmi.