Ethiopia plays down OAU progress in reaching peace with Eritrea

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that the Organization of African Unity in Algeria did not achieve great progress in settling the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea, although he added that all proposals made there stemmed from good and honest principles.

In a statement to AFP, the Ethiopian premier said upon returning on Wednesday to his country that his country finds out that the OAU peace proposals were positive, despite the fact that they were similar to previous proposals.

He ruled out the realization of a genuine progress in the attempt to find a solution for the fighting that has continued between the two countries for 14 months.

He accused the Eritrean delegation of trying to devoid all proposals on the conflict between the two countries.

The 35th OAU summit, which concluded its deliberations on Wednesday in Algiers, approved two documents relating to the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia: a planned agreement in the context of the OAU and arrangements on implementing the African proposals.