Video: President Isaias Afwerki's 1999 Press Conference in Washington, D.C.

In August of 1999, President Isaias Afwerki held a press conference in Washington, D.C. on the conflict with Ethiopia, and on announcing that Eritrea had accepted the OAU peace plan.

President Isaias informed the press that the conflict with Ethiopia began when the Tigray regional government arbitrarily drew up their own map that took large swaths of Eritrean border areas. In order to make this new map a reality, they sent Ethiopian soldiers to Eritrean border villages, removing Eritrean citizens, and dismantling Eritrean administrations to post their own.

Despite President Isaias clear and factual statements that explained the roots of the war, this didn't stop a few journalists from dumbing down the conversation by interjecting false rumors. For instance, one reporter at the 10:04 mark in the video asks President Isaias:

Do you believe that some of the roots of this war are basically in a family feud between you and your distant cousin [Meles Zenawi]?

President Isaias answered her silly, dumb question by re-explaining the root cause of the war, which probably was his polite way of saying "take the tin foil hat off, lady!"

All in all, this was a very informative press conference by PIA. He was straight to the point, factual, and handled it very professionally.

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