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.
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