SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES POSITIVE RESPONSE OF ERITREA TO OAU APPEAL, URGES ETHIOPIA TO RESPOND IN SAME SPIRIT

Press Release
SG/SM/7418
AFR/234

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES POSITIVE RESPONSE OF ERITREA TO OAU APPEAL, URGES ETHIOPIA TO RESPOND IN SAME SPIRIT

The following statement was issued tonight by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General welcomes the statement issued today by the Government of Eritrea in response to the appeal made by the current Chairman-in-Office of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Earlier today, the Secretary-General had already issued a statement expressing his strong support for the efforts made by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika with a view to ending the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He now urges the Ethiopian Government also to respond positively to the OUA appeal in order to bring about an immediate end to hostilities, restore the status quo ante of 6 May 1998, and pave the way for a durable settlement of this tragic conflict.

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