[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 3 (Monday, January 25, 1999)]
[Page 107]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Conflict

January 22, 1999

    The United States remains deeply concerned about the risk of armed 
conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia and strongly committed to help 
find a peaceful resolution to their border dispute.
    As part of this effort, I asked former National Security Adviser 
Anthony Lake to return to Eritrea and Ethiopia during the last week. 
This was his fourth visit since October. During his visit, Mr. Lake met 
with Organization of African Unity (OAU) Secretary Salim Ahmed Salim, 
Eriteran President Isaias Afworki, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles 
Zenawi.
    In their meetings with Mr. Lake, the leaders of Eritrea and Ethiopia 
reaffirmed their engagement with the OAU's peace process, which the 
United States strongly supports. In this context, the United States 
urges both parties to accept the OAU's Framework Agreement and its 
agreed implementation in order to achieve a peaceful resolution of the 
dispute. Ethiopia has accepted the OAU Framework, and Eritrea awaits 
certain clarifications from the OAU.
    The United States remains deeply concerned, however, about the 
continuing military build-up along the common border between Ethiopia 
and Eritrea, and about the implications of this build-up for renewed 
hostilities. We call on both parties to exercise reason and restraint 
and to maintain their commitment to the peaceful solution that we are 
convinced is within reach.
    Ethiopia and Eritrea have made remarkable strides in the last few 
years in overcoming a past of repression, famine, and war. Both nations 
have promising futures. Both are good friends of the United States. We 
ask them not to risk what they have gained in a conflict that cannot 
possibly benefit the people of either side. We pledge our own best 
efforts, in partnership with Ethiopia and Eritrea, to avert a tragedy 
and to advance the interest that continue to unite the people of both 
nations.