አቡጊዳ – አቶ መለስና አቶ ኢሳያስ የተላላኩት ደብዳቤዎች

አቶ መለስ ዜናዊና አቶ ኢሳያስ እስከ አሁን ድረስ የቅርብ ወዳጆች እንደሆኑ የሚጠረጥሩ ብዙዎች ናቸዉ። በተለይም በባድመ ጦርነት ወቅት ሙሉ እልባት ያገኝ የነበረዉን የኤርትራ ችግር እንዲራዘም በማድረጉና የአቶ ኢሳያስ አፈወርቂ ስልጣን በማራዘሙ አንጻር አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ ትልቅ ሚና የተጫወቱ ሰዉ መሆናቸዉን የሚረሳ ኢትዮጵያዊ ይኖራል ተብሎ አይታሰብም።

በባድመ ግጭት ወቅት አቶ መለስና አቶ ኢሳያስ ችግሩን ለመፍታት በቅርበት ይነጋገሩ እንደነበረ ከድሃይ ድህረ ገጽ ያገኘነዉ በወቅቱ የተጻጻፉት ደብዳቤዎች ያመለክታሉ።

“በግለሰብ ደረጃ ችግሩ ወደ ከፋ ደረጃ እንዳይሄድ እማጸንሃለሁ» ሲሉ አቶ ኢሳያስ አፈወርቂ ሲጽፉ፣ አቶ መለስ ዜናዊም “የተፈጠረዉን ቀዉስ በመግባባት መፍታት እንችላለን» የሚል ምላሽ በመስጠት አቶ ኢሳያስን ለማግባባት ሲሞክሩ እንደነበረ ደብዳቤዎቹ ያሳያሉ።

አቶ መለስና አቶ ኢሳያስ ጦርነቱ በተፋፋመ ጊዜ፣ ሌሎች የሕወሃት አመራሮች ሳያወቁ ግንኙነታቸዉን የቀጠሉ ሲሆን፣ ከሰባ ሺሆች በላይ ዘማቾች ካለቁ በኋላ ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ጦር በመንደፈራና በአዲ ቋላ በኩል እየገሰገሰ አስመራ ሊገባ 48 ሰዓታት ሲቀረዉ፣ አቶ ኢሳያስን ለማዳን ፣ ጦሩ እንዲመለስ አቶ መለስ ትእዛዝ መስጠታቸዉ ይታወቃል።

የባድመ ግጭት የተነሳዉ እንደ ፈረንጆች አቆጣጠር በ ጁላይ 19 1997 ዓ.ም ነበር። በኦገስት 16 1997 አቶ ኢሳያስ የሚከትለዉን ይጽፋሉ፡

Comrade Meles;

Greetings.

I am being compelled to write you to day because of the preoccupying situation prevailing in the areas around Bada.

It cannot be said that the border between our two countries is demarcated clearly although it is known traditionally. And we had not given the issue much attention in view of our present and future ties. Moreover, I do not believe that this will be a cause of much concern and controversy even in the future.

Be this as it may, there have been intermittent disputes in the border areas arising form different and minor causes. Local officials have been striving to defuse and solve these problems amicably. However, the forcible occupation of Adi-Murug by your army in the past few days is truly saddening.

There was no justification for resorting to force as it would not have been at all difficult to settle the matter amicably even if it was deemed important and warranting immediate attention. It would also be possible to quietly and without haste demarcate the boundaries in case this is felt to be necessary.

I, therefore, urge you to personally take the necessary prudent action so that the measure that has been taken will not trigger unnecessary conflict.

Best Regards
Your comrade
Isaias Afwerki

ከጥቂት ቀናት በኋላ አቶ መለስ የሚከትለዉን መልስ ይሰጣሉ፡

Comrade Isaias,

Greetings.

I have seen the letter you sent me. I had also heard that the situation in the border areas does not look good. I was also informed that the matter was discussed between your colleague , who had come here, and ours . We did not imagine that what happened in Bada could create problems. This is because the areas our comrades are controlling were not controversial before and we believed that prior consultation was only necessary for disputed areas. We moved to the areas to pursue the remnants of Ougugume (Afar Opposition) who were obstructing our peace efforts from positions there. We believe we can ease the tension concerning the borders on the basis of the understanding reached previously between your team and our colleague . Perhaps, it is also necessary to settle the border demarcation issue after the necessary preparations are carried out by both sides.

የባድመ ቀዉስ የበለጠ እየተፋፋመ ሲመጣ አቶ ኢሳያስ በድጋሚ የሚከተለዉን ፣ እንደ ፈረንጆች አቆጣጠር በኦገስት 25 1997 ይጻፋሉ፡

Comrade Meles,

Greetings.

Regarding the situation in the border areas, my information establishes that the measures taken at Adi-Murug were not in areas that are undisputed but in our own areas and by expelling our officials and dismantling the existing administration. Concerning the Ougugume, your action (in Adi-Murug) came as our Defence was preparing to co-operate on the basis of the request from your Army. Moreover, similar measures have been taken in the Badme area.

I had indicated to you, these measures are unjustified. In order to expediently check any further deterioration and pave the way for a final solution, we have assigned on our part three officials (Defence Minister Sebhat Ephrem; PFDJ Head of Political Affairs, Yemane Ghebreab; and National Security Advisor, Abraha Kassa) I suggest that you also similarly (or in ways you think best) assign officials so that both sides can meet as soon as possible to look into these matters. I await your thoughts.

Best regards

Your Comrade

Isaias Afewerki