"[Eritrean president] Isaias Afwerki finds himself isolated by the international community for his wanton actions of human rights violations atop a national economic crisis. He has been knocking on the doors of the Arab League, the African Union, European Union and many others on the hope of pulling himself out of the crisis his regime finds itself in. Nothing has worked his way. The current troop movement is aimed at diverting his internal crisis and winning sympathy if he coulf find any gullible quarters on the international market," the source said. "If Isaias tried to enter an Ethiopian territory, he knows he is committing suicide."

Asked why Isaias would not try to invade Ethiopian territories again given that one-tenth of Eritrea's population is in the army, and Ethiopia has demobilized one-third of a war-time 250,000 troops, the source said: "It is not a matter of amassing thousands upon thousands of forced conscripts into the army that counts to winning a war. Eritrean soldiers could be described as 'prison inmates' yearning for freedom." On the other hand, the Ethiopian Defense Forces are there, along the border. Isaias knows what would mean to send 'political prisoners' into a territory being guarded by a mighty and victorious Ethiopian Defense Forces. He would not even contemplate the idea."

On Wednesday the United Nations alerted the media that there was an unusual Eritrean troop movement to the highly contested site of the western sector at whose heart lies Badme, the flash-point of the two-year-old war which ended when Ethiopian defense forces came closer within an artillery range of Asmara, Eritrea's capital.

In spite of the source's dismissive statement, the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea remain tense after the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rejected two months ago an independent border commission ruling which awarded undisputed Ethiopian territories to Eritrea in April 2002.

Dr. Tolossa Gofta Kassane, a noted Ethiopian political and human rights activist, on his part summed up the situation this way: "Let us not be deceived by agents of division and of destruction. Let us focus on supporting Ethiopian students [I understand there was a nationwide leafleting recently by students], the Ethiopian Free Press, the UEDF and other good causes. Meles, (Isaias) and their cadres can fight their pseudo-cyber/electronic warfare, but we should keep our eyes on the crucial objective - the removal of the Meles led ethno-apartheid institution and its replacement by an all-inclusive democratic structure under the leadership of the UEDF!"

Another Ethiopian scholar speaking to Ethiomedia on condition of anonymity said on his part that the threat of war was a blessing in disguise for the two tyrants in Addis Ababa and Asmara as people would worry about the threat of war to their lives rather than think about how they have to rally themselves to end tyrannies in the two countries.

"For instance, Meles has worked for the award of Ethiopian territories to Eritrea. Such support is contained in the 113-page document released by The Hague-based Border Commission. Such pro-Eritrea service on the part of the government topped Ethiopian people's revulsion to the ruling party in power. While Meles attempts to defend Badme to save his regime, the people are not claiming Badme as theirs but also other areas such as Irobland to the east and the entire Red Sea Afar homeland which has been annexed by Eritrea through the instrumentality of the prime minister in 1991," the scholar added.

Asked what would be the solution to the environment of conflict Meles and Isaias have created to hold on to their respective powers, the scholar said the birth of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) was a political breakthrough as it was a joint power of 15 opposition parties. It is up to Ethiopians to nurture UEDF in every possible way, and expedite the downfall of a regime whose record of working against Ethiopian interests is no public secret. It could be said it was UEDF which indirectly forced the prime minister - who was campaigning to hand over Badme to the Eritreans - to reverse his position and declare the ruling of the Border Commission was 'null and void'."

He said the Ethiopian people should not lend their ears to the rhetoric of war being fueled by Asmara, and eventually by Addis Ababa. The war scenario is a mechanism to dissuade the people from consolidating the young UEDF, whose sole goal is to live up to the national interests of the Ethiopian people.