Quotes from Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
(Participate in Poll about this interview below.)
on the Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict.
Talk Magazine, December 1999
On the roots of the current conflict.
"The problem here is really the problem of Eritrea trying to find a place in the sun that is commensurate with its potential and its limitations. This has resulted in their attacking Yemen, occupying an island, and finally losing when the matter went to international arbitration...There is the genuine desire for self-determination being transformed into virulent nationalism that is rocking the boat. The crisis that we have now is manifested in the form of a broader dispute and aggression by Eritrea."
Talk Magazine Writer Journeys to Addis Ababa to Interview Meles Zenawi - a Former Schoolmate of the Writer.Abraham Verghese is an up and coming writer on the American literary journalism scene. A medical doctor, Verghese has written elegantly in publications such as the New Yorker about his experiences treating AIDS patients and about the growing number of foreign doctors in American hospitals. You might also have seen him interviewed on "60 Minutes" two Sundays ago. Verghese's life began in Addis Ababa where he was born to Indian parents who were brought to Ethiopia by Haile Selassie as educators. Verghese grew up in Addis and speaks fluent Amharic. He left Addis in 1974. In the December issue of the ultra-trendy Talk Magazine, Verghese writes about his recent return to Addis after three decades, and his interview with one of the students a year behind him in medical school in Addis - Meles Zenawi. Check out page 95 in the December issue of Talk Magazine.
His interpretation of Eritrea's actions."They had some reasons to think they might pull it off. They knew we inherited an army of half a million, which we immediately demobilized. We were almost exclusively focused on economic growth and development, and we...felt it would be wise to spend every cent we had on economic growth and not on a big army....I don't believe the Eritrean people have this innate desire to provoke everyone around them and cause chaos and war. I believe they are tired of war and have the simple desire to have a peaceful life...like everyone else. I think the sickness is in the leadership, not in the population."
On Meles' relationship with Issaias Afewerki
"There's a myth that has been created about the personal relationship between me and Issaias. I would say that our personal relationship was not a relationship that led us to act together on personal issues. The political issues were what brought us together. And when the political issue set us apart, there was no independent personal relationship we could fall back on to retain a semblance of understanding one might have had in the past."On the Battle of Badme
"In terms of scale, I think it was comparable to the battles of World War II. The losses were quite heavy, and the amount of armor involved I think was comparable if not higher than the biggest battle in North Africa....It should have been beyond the means of these two countries. But both sides inherited lots of hardware. And the issues involved are so involved with sovereignty that people are prepared to put up with a lot of hardship."
On the Peace the Proposal
"When Eritrea rejected the peace proposal initially, the international community was surprisingly silent. They began to tell us, 'These guys... are an extreme lot, stubborn. So why don't you give them additional concessions?' We said, 'What concessions? Concessions from our sovereignty? That has never been done by any government in Ethiopia in 3,000 years.' That is the only thing of great value what we have inherited from our past, our unflinching determination to keep our...country independent even if we are dying of hunger.
As soon as we kicked them out of the key area in Badme, the Eritreans said, 'Okay....we accept the peace package. But the OAU requires us to move out of the territory that you pushed us out of militarily -- the rest of the territory that we occupied we don't have to move out from.' In other words, they were saying that the OAU package meant that their forced route in Badme would be sanctioned in the form of a peace package and nothing more! So we decided we will assign a team of lawyers to find any loopholes...and we will not sign till all these loopholes are cleared."
On Eritrea's Secession
"I believe that the Eritreans people have,like any other people, certain inherent rights. It is not up to me to give or take their rights....One can recognize or fail to recognize but one cannot take or give away these rights. It is not about territory, it's not about people's rights. Land makes sense only because people are in it. You cannot separate the land from people and when the [Eritrean] people decided that they wanted to separate, we said, 'Have it your way. Good luck. And let's work together.' Even if I had known this [war] was coming, there would be no way I would have done anything different."
