wfn.org | Situation in Eritrea unclear; LWF program director evacuated

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

LWF COUNCIL
Press Release No. 03/98

Situation in Eritrea unclear
LWF program director evacuated

GENEVA, 10 June 1998 (lwi) - The state of negotiations between the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) and the Eritrean government is unclear at the moment
because of the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, LWF General Secretary
Ishmael Noko told the LWF Council at its meeting here 8-17 June. Noko met
with Eritrean President Issaias Afwerki on May 20, just days before the
clash of forces in a border dispute.

Noko told the Council that the LWF World Service resident representative,
Bram Voets, had been safely evacuated to the Netherlands. Though another
round of negotiations with the Eritrean government concerning LWF property
had been scheduled for July 15 (and the closure of LWF s Eritrea office had
been postponed until that date), the general secretary said it was
uncertain the meeting next month would take place as planned.

At a press conference during the Council meeting, Noko explained that the
LWF is not contesting the handover of "unmoveable property," e.g., clinics
and dams, though the federation would have preferred turning them over to
the local communities rather than the central government. What is still in
dispute is so-called "moveable property," which would include office
equipment, trucks and cranes used for moving shipping containers at port.

The government wanted moveable property handed over to the minister of
finance, who would in turn distribute it to other government agencies. Noko
had asked for an extension of its operations so that the process of
handover could be done in an orderly manner. Alternatively, he proposed
that the moveable property be sold and a special fund be set up for
projects in Eritrea and administered by a board. A similar fund was set up
when the Ethiopian government took over the LWF radio station RVOG (Radio
Voice of the Gospel). President Afwerki expressed openness to the special
fund proposal, though no conclusive agreement was reached at last month s
meeting.

The LWF and the Evangelical Church of Eritrea (ECE) signed a formal
agreement with the Eritrean government in March 1992. Plans called for work
through mid-2000, with the LWF gradually turning over its development work
to the ECE.

Eritrea is one of 14 countries in Africa where the LWF World Service has
development or emergency operations. Last year s budget for the programs in
Eritrea was USD 2.1 million.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a global communion of Lutheran
churches. Founded in Lund, Sweden, in 1947, the LWF now has 124 member
churches in 69 countries representing over 57 million of the world s 61
million Lutherans. The LWF headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

*       *       *
Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/