’Cuba, Ethiopia rift'

Press, 12 June 1978, Page 8

’Cuba, Ethiopia rift'

NZPA LondonI Cuba recently refused to give military support to the I Ethiopian offensive in Eritrea, thus departing from (Soviet policy in Africa for the first time, the weekly newspaper, the “Observer,” has reported. Quoting Ethiopian sources, ( the British newspaper sa.J that President Fidel Castro of Cuba refused to commit Cuban troops to the offensive against rebel, Eritrea because of t..e political nature of the conflict. Cuba was supported by i Libya and South Yemen, (which withdrew its military 1 personnel, mostly truck (drivers, from the conflict,, (the “Observer” said. | In Khartoum, Sudan,Ethiojpian forces are reported by, rebels to have begun moving ( (out of their bases across! northern Tigre province towards Eritrea, where seces(sionist forces have long been i (expecting a big Government( (offensive. 1 But informed observers ( suggested that the moves I (may be limited in scope and designed to secure bases ini southern Eritrea from which to push forward later. A spokesman for The (Tigre People’s Liberation ( (Front, an anti-Government 1 (guerrilla movement backing! I the separatists in neighbour-1 (ing Eritrea province, said, ( I “If they (the Ethiopians) ( (come in a big force, we; (can’t stop them, but they: (will suffer a lot.” ( The Ethiopian Army is (using Tigre as a base area for its planned campaign in (Eritrea where the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front; and the Eritrean Liberation Front have gained control of an estimated 95 per cent of the territory.