Ethiopia rejects U.N. ultimatum

ADDIS ABABA, MAY 14. The Government in Addis Ababa has rejected a U.N. Security Council ultimatum that Ethiopia and Eritrea should cease fighting.

The Security Council late on Friday gave Ethiopia and Eritrea 72 hours to stop their war or face the immediate, but unspecified, threat of a U.N. arms embargo.

``When because of Eritrea's intransigence, the fighting has again flared up, we learn...the Security Council has decided to trigger a process designed, in effect, to punish the victim of aggression, Ethiopia,'' a statement from the Prime Minister's office said yesterday.

``The people and the Government of Ethiopia reject this move by some countries in the Security Council which is blatantly in contravention of the U.N. Charter ... and of international law.

''In particular, the people of Ethiopia vehemently oppose and reject in unison the attempt by the United States and Great Britain - two of the permanent members of the Security Council which are leading the effort - to deny them their lawful right of self-defence when their sovereignty is trampled upon and their dignity violated.``

Meanwhile, Ethiopia claimed dramatic battlefield victories against Eritrea as fighting raged along their disputed border for a second day despite international appeals for peace.

The Government said yesterday Ethiopian troops, backed by helicopter gunships and fighter jets, had destroyed eight Eritrean army divisions in sweeping across lines of enemy trenches near the Badme region of their disputed border.

''The Eritrean army is retreating in disarray as the Ethiopian ground forces pursue them and destroy them,`` it said in a statement, adding that thousands of Eritrean soldiers had been killed or wounded in two days of heavy fighting.

Ethiopian forces launched the offensive on Friday morning, breaking a year's lull in the war.

The U.N. Security Council quickly demanded an end to the fighting and the resumption of peace talks. It is expected to meet tomorrow, with Britain and the United States calling for an arms embargo against both Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The war began in May 1998 and Eritrea seized pockets of territory along the length of the 1,000-km border in the first weeks of fighting.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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