Eritrea. After a standstill in February, new fighting
broke out along the disputed border with Ethiopia. Like when
the war began in May 1998, hostilities began at the western
end of the common border but soon spread all the way down to
the Red Sea. Both sides claimed great success. After a few
weeks, Eritrea agreed to accept a peace plan put forward by
the African cooperation organization OAU, and in Ethiopia
there was talk of a "total victory". Despite this, the
fighting continued throughout spring and early summer, with
heavy losses on both sides. Outstanding judges guessed that
thousands, or even tens of thousands, were killed.
Only after an OAU meeting in Algiers in July did the
fighting stop. Both sides then agreed to the OAU plan,
according to which Eritrea would withdraw from all areas
occupied since May 6, 1998, while Ethiopia would evacuate
areas occupied after February 6, 1999. However, Ethiopia
immediately accused Eritrea of imposing unfair terms, e.g.
damages to the tens of thousands of Eritreans displaced from
Ethiopia. When Ethiopia rejected parts of the OAU plan in
September on the grounds that it did not explicitly
stipulate that Eritrea should leave the two towns of
Zalambessa and Bure on the western front, this was seen in
Eritrea as a new declaration of war. During the fall, a
recharge took place along the front, and a new outbreak of
war seemed inevitable.
Countryaah official website, The World Bank punished both countries for their warfare
by stopping all funding for new development projects.