ETHIOPIA: Toward the SeaMonday, Dec. 04, 1950

Landlocked Ethiopia once had a seacoast. It fringed the strategic waters where

the Red Sea runs into the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. In the 19th

Century the British, the French and finally the Italians each grabbed

themselves a wedge of Ethiopia's shore. In their portion called Eritrea (pop.

1,000,000; area 50,000 sq. mi.), the Italians of Benito Mussolini's Fascist era

rebuilt the old city of Asmara. From Eritrea the Italians launched their

conquest of Emperor Haile Selassie's domain. It took World War II to drive the

Italians out again and put Haile Selassie back on the throne.

Since war's end, Eritrea has been under temporary British care. Three years

ago, the Big Four (Britain, France, Russia, U.S.) drafted a peace treaty with

Italy in which the final disposition of Eritrea was left for U.N. decision. A five-

member mission studied the problem, even visited the former Italian colony,

but the commission split, made three separate reports. Last week the Eritrea

issue came up for discussion before the General Assembly's Special Political

Committee.

The U.S.S.R. proposed outright independence for Eritrea. Poland plumped for

independence in three years, Pakistan in two. Iraq wanted an Eritrean

National Assembly to decide between independence and federation with

Ethiopia. Foreign Minister Ato Abte-Wold Aklilou, Haile Selassie's spokesman,

insisted that Eritrea belonged to their country, was Ethiopia's rightful window

on the sea. Fourteen other nations, including the U.S., moved that Eritrea be

given home rule within a great Ethiopia. The committee approved the

resolution, dispatched it to the full Assembly.