Eritrea: No changes allowed to OAU framework

The Eritrean Cabinet said yesterday that Eritrea is committed to peace, but that lasting peace would not be achievable if there are changes made to the framework of an Organization of African Unity peace proposal for Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, the Eritrean Foreign Ministry criticized Ethiopia for publishing two private letters from the OAU's chairman to Eritrean President Assyas Afworki. "How Ethiopia obtained copies of these private letters remains a mystery. The fact is that Ethiopia appears to have an inside track to the workings and documents of the High Level Delegation," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement added, "This is not the first time; Ethiopia also received the full report of the OAU Ambassadorial committee last year while Eritrea remained in the dark."

The statement went on to criticize the content of the letters as being in contradiction with "official clarifications that the High Level Delegation provided to Eritrea on January 26, 1999," and "the Terms of Reference of the OAU Ambassadorial Committee of last June."

It added, "The OAU Secretariat remains inaccessible to Eritrea as Eritrea's Ambassador to the organization was expelled illegally by Ethiopia."