Word: eritrea
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...along with guerrilla groups representing Eritrean and Oromo rebels -- met with officials of the teetering central government for U.S.-brokered peace talks in London. The negotiations were made urgent by rebel pushes that put the Democratic Front just outside the capital and the Eritreans in command of all of Eritrea province. These advances prompted Mengistu to flee to Zimbabwe two weeks ago. After just a day, the parties were on the verge of agreeing to a cease-fire and a broadly based provisional government that would prepare the country for free elections...
...Eritrean leaders, however, have no interest in Ethiopia's governance but simply want to break away from the country. Established as an Italian colony in 1890, Eritrea expected nationhood after World War II but was instead federated with Ethiopia in 1952 at the recommendation of the United Nations. In 1962 the Eritrean parliament voted for full unification amid reports of bribery and intimidation of its members by the government of Emperor Haile Selassie...
...stepped down, the Eritreans said they were willing to postpone their independence vote, perhaps for several years. But once victory was secured, they wasted no time asserting their secessionist agenda. In a press conference last week, Issaias Afewerki, leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, stated baldly, "Eritrea is not part of Ethiopia." He added that his group would administer the province until a vote on Eritrea's status is held, a plebiscite the front is convinced will endorse secession...
Many non-Eritreans oppose the province's independence for economic as well as nationalistic reasons. Without Eritrea, with its long Red Sea coast, Ethiopia would be landlocked. International food aid, essential in combating famine when the rains fail, enters the country primarily through the Eritrean ports of Massawa and Assab. The Eritreans have pledged that they will permit goods to flow freely through their territory, but many Ethiopians wonder whether they can trust such promises from a group that has fought Addis Ababa for three decades...
...Democratic Front's position on Eritrea is much like Washington's: it endorses the right of the Eritreans to their referendum but wants a unified Ethiopia and so hopes that the vote, if held, goes against secession. As the day of reckoning approaches, tensions between the two groups may erupt. Already, there are strains between Meles and Issaias, who have been friends for 16 years. Issaias is upset that Meles succumbed to U.S. pressure to promise elections within a year. Meles is angry that Issaias reneged on his original pledge to participate in the transitional government to be established...