Ethiopian Army Commanders Remain Defiant over Meles’ Eritrea Support

Ethiopian Army Commanders Remain Defiant over Meles’ Eritrea Support

July 30, 2003

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SHIRRE, Northern Ethiopia (Ethiomedia) – Ethiopian army commanders in this northern Ethiopian border town which was a scene of the fiercest 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea War walked out of a meeting in defiance of army generals and cadres sent by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who told the meeting Ethiopia had no option but to hand over Ethiopian territories like Badme and parts of Irob to Eritrea.

Four army generals dispatched from Addis Ababa to the frontline by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi have been on a propaganda tour of army camps to persuade senior Ethiopian army commanders to accept the Border Commission ruling that awarded undisputed Ethiopian territories to Eritrea, a popular weekly Amharic newspaper Etop reported today.

“Six army colonels walked out of the meeting as the cadres loyal to the prime minister said the border issue with Eritrea was resolved in a legal and civil way, and the only option left to Ethiopia was to accept the border ruling,” Etop said.

The meeting ended without any agreement, and resentment across the military remained widespread, the newspaper reported, adding the local people and the army were resolved to forestall any move to cede undisputed Ethiopian territories on the orders of Meles to Eritrea.

Recently Meles Zenawi secretly authored an 8-page document warning government, party officials and army officers to implement the handing over of Ethiopian territories to Eritrea in the same way Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia over 12 years ago. For this purpose, political functionaries loyal to the Eritrean agent have begun to carry out massive campaign of brainwashing that poverty-ridden Ethiopia had no option but to resolve the crisis with Eritrea by being amenable to Eritrea’s demands from Ethiopia.