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By Tsegaye Tadesse
28 June, 2007
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Thursday it was making military preparations for any possible invasion by arch-foe and neighbour Eritrea with whom it fought a devastating border war in 1998-2000.
"It is deemed necessary to make the necessary military preparation for deterring a possible Eritrean invasion and to repulse such an invasion should it occur," Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament.
Meles gave no specific information of any new threat, but his comments ratcheted up long-hostile rhetoric between the two Horn of Africa nations.
Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu dismissed the comments. "This is just posturing which has resulted from paranoia," he told Reuters by telephone from Asmara.
After a three-decade guerrilla conflict, Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia in 1993. Their subsequent war, over a border of barren plains and dusty villages, cost 70,000 lives.
Unresolved tensions over the border have been compounded in the last year by differences between Eritrea and Ethiopia over Somalia -- where they back different sides -- and Addis Ababa's accusations that Asmara is arming anti-Meles rebel groups.
"It's obvious that the government of Eritrea will never miss an opportunity to carry out aggression against Ethiopia should there be an opportunity," Meles said.
Eritrea's Abdu said: "The intention is to divert attention from Ethiopia's internal problems and its involvement in Somalia."
Meles said the activity of "terrorists" in Somalia had forced him to slow down Ethiopia's withdrawal from its neighbour. Complete withdrawal would hinge on the success of a national reconciliation meeting, the consolidation of the Somali government and full deployment of AU peacekeepers, he said.
BORDER STALEMATE
Ethiopia and Eritrea are at a political stalemate over a post-war 2002 ruling by an independent boundary commission.
Ethiopia rejects the decision, which gave a flashpoint town to Eritrea, and wants new dialogue. Asmara says Addis Ababa -- and the international community -- must abide by the decision.
The United Nations says both sides have put more than 5,000 soldiers in the border zone this year.
"Our strategy of resolving conflicts through peaceful means and dialogue can succeed only when others also act likewise. It has now become abundantly clear that there is no commensurate stance and commitment on the part of Eritrea," Meles said.
"We have now come to the point where neither Eritrea nor others could ignore that at present our defence forces have the capacity to deter aggression and repulse it if it occurred...And this is being threatened every day."
Meles said efforts to persuade the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels -- whom he accuses Eritrea of supporting -- to lay down their arms had failed.
An offensive is underway against the ONLF, which overran a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April, killing 74 people.
"From now on, we will take the responsibility to protect the people and the country against armed bandits engaged in destruction and violence," Meles said.
(Additional reporting by Katie Nguyen in Nairobi)