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After that there was little resistance

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After that, there was little resistance.Both sides make contradictory claims mired in fierce national pride and political manoeuvring Eritrea says its troops tactically withdrew from Zalambessa. Ethiopia says their men routed them after a hard-fought confrontation.But, after two years of slugging it out with high-tech air strikes and First World War-style trench warfare, a victor is emerging. In two weeks Ethiopia has recaptured nearly all its disputed territory. Yesterday their commanders said they had taken the town of Adikeyhe, 70 miles from the Eritrean capital, Asmara.Peace talks sponsored by the Organisation of African Unity are to resume in Algiers tomorrow. Ethiopia, having inflicted humiliating defeats on its blood brother turned mortal enemy, will call the shots.But with prime minister Meles Zenawi's stated policy of "negotiating by fighting and fighting while negotiating", it remains to be seen when Ethiopia will stop the shooting..

For most aid agencies working in Angola the top priority is providing emergency food aid and medical assistance to the country's estimated 3 million internally displaced people. But for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), which has a large programme in the eastern city of Luena, tree planting is currently a far higher priority. For without LWF's trees, the displaced persons' camps which the organisation administers may soon vanish into the monstrous ravines which are swallowing large parts of Luena. For most aid agencies working in Angola the top priority is providing emergency food aid and medical assistance to the country's estimated 3 million internally displaced people. But for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), which has a large programme in the eastern city of Luena, tree planting is currently a far higher priority. For without LWF's trees, the displaced persons' camps which the organisation administers may soon vanish into the monstrous ravines which are swallowing large parts of Luena. "You see all of these trees? They're all ours," declares Benjamin Jofe, director of LWF's agricultural programme in Luena, proudly. He is pointing out the juvenile eucalyptus trees which, at about 12ft tall, are beginning to cast welcome shade over the huts they have been planted to protect.Luena's incredible ravines are a direct result of Angola's 25-year old civil war.

The city is built on very sandy soil which is prone to erosion, particularly during the rainy season. During the Portuguese colonial period, which extended until 1975, this was never a problem: the Portuguese declared the forests which surrounded Luena protected areas and prohibited the cutting of trees for firewood. The roots held onto the sandy soil while their leaves and branches fended off the rain.Since independence and the onset of the civil war, protecting people has taken precedence over protecting trees. At several points during the conflict Luena has been besieged by the Unita rebels, who have made it right to the outskirts of the city, at times cutting all road and air access. During these sieges the people have been unable to leave its narrow confines, sometimes for years at a time."They had no choice but to cut the trees down to get fuel for heating and cooking, and to clear areas for cultivation," explains Mr Jofe. "The result was a dramatic acceleration in the erosion of the soil, leading to the formation of the ravines."The ravines first began to appear on the outskirts of the city during the 1980s.

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