ERITREA - June 27 - Demand For Army Cuts Rejected.(Ethiopian civil war)(Brief Article)

Eritrea rejects Ethiopian demands that it reduce the size of its army in peace talks to put a definitive end to their 2-year border war. The 2 sides earlier June signed a deal calling for an immediate cease-fire and the deployment of UN peacekeepers in a 25 km buffer zone between the 2 armies. Fighting has stopped but several key issues remain unresolved and, with peacekeepers unlikely to be deployed for several months, there are concerns that new clashes could erupt if negotiations go badly. (A comprehensive peace deal requires the final demarcation of the border, which was not clearly defined when Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Ethiopia has also raised other controversial issues, including compensation for civilian victims of the war, the repatriation of Ethiopian nationals detained inside Eritrea and a reduction of Eritrea's army.) Ethiopian FM Seyoum Mesfin had said at the most recent round of talks in Algeria: "The number of Eritrea's army should be reduced to bring about a durable peace in the Horn of Africa region". But Eritrea says Ethiopia has no right to demand military cuts because the issue forms no part of a framework peace proposal drawn up by the Organisation of African Unity. Presidential adviser Yemane Gebremeskel says: "Now Ethiopia is raising irrational issues or issues that will prevent serious discussions. One is the size of the Eritrean army that they want reduced". Technical experts from both sides are to meet in Washington on July 3 to begin the task of demarcation, while the 2 sides will renew the negotiations in Algeria next week. (Tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have died in the border war, which began in May 1998. Ethiopia gained a military advantage with an offensive launched in mid-May. Its army recaptured disputed territories seized at the start of the war and then drove deep into Eritrean territory. The cease-fire deal signed in Algeria reflects Ethiopia's military advantage as it sets up the buffer zone inside Eritrean territory along the length of the border.) Although the 2 sides are now bickering over a definitive peace deal, they also say there have been some advances. Yemane says: "Mediators are optimistic". Both sides are expected to repatriate each other's civilians on July 6 in a formal exchange organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross.