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Sunday Morning News

Eritrean Residents Return Home to Town Looted by Ethiopian Forces

Aired June 4, 2000 - 8:25 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: On the Horn of Africa this morning, Eritrea claims it has repulsed Ethiopian forces following a daylong battle. The clashes were close to the fort city of Assab.

For the first time since the renewed conflict with Ethiopia, the president of Eritrea has spoken publicly in an exclusive interview with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. ISSAIAS AFEWORK, ERITREA: We wish to live in peace with our neighbors, if we are allowed to do that. So far, we see that we're not allowed to live in peace and we are to struggle to make peace a reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The Eritrean town of Barentu has changed hands during the fighting, but is now in Eritrea's control, and as Carol Pineau reports, residents there are returning home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL PINEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barentu's residents are beginning to trickle back into the southwestern Eritrean town after Eritrea's army recaptured the town Tuesday, but they are returning to looted shops and homes.

ROMA, SHOPKEEPER (through translator): When I opened the shop, I was shocked to find only salt and nothing else, because everything has been looted. And when I was leaving Barentu, my shop was fully stocked. And when they started bombing, I was scared and ran away.

PINEAU: The market is empty. There are no goods left to sell. All that remains is trash lining the once clean streets. A lone tobacco seller sits with friends on the now quiet main street. By late morning, a battery seller joins him -- the extent of commerce on Barentu's once bustling market street. The few people who remained throughout the brief two-week occupation say the looters were Ethiopian civilians. More than 300 trucks, they say, came to cart the goods away.

Ethiopia captured Barentu two weeks ago, then announced Tuesday it had redeployed its troops from the town. Eritrea says they left under military pressure. The people who stayed in Barentu agree, they say Ethiopia's army did not have time to finish what it promised to do: to burn all the houses and shops. The Ethiopian army is out of Barentu, but it sits within striking distance of the town.

(on camera): For now, the people say, they are too afraid to remain in the town. They come to look for relatives, assess the damage, and take back the few possessions left behind.

(voice-over): Merchants say they can rebuild their lives, but that there is no point in starting over again if they don't have peace.

Carol Pineau for CNN, Barentu, Eritrea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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