Ethiopia reached this stage now when it cannot continue militarily. Militarily, they have lost heavily in the past two weeks.

Ethiopia has to withdraw to all pre-May 6, 1998, positions. This has to be verified independently.

The critical point is whether there is progress on the cardinal issue: whether Ethiopia has accepted the boundary commission's decision in good faith. The formal statement from the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry yesterday does not encourage one to think in optimistic terms.

They can't say the war is over when they still occupy sovereign Eritrean territory.

If they think their invasion should be rewarded, it is outrageous. If they are throwing away this peace plan endorsed by the international community, then that means more war.

Meles is not the judge in this case.