The World - News from Sept. 1, 1989

Ethiopian President Mengistu Haile Mariam said that his government would soon open peace talks with rebels in northern Tigre province, but hours later he said the Tigre People’s Liberation Front had launched a new offensive. “While we are talking about peace, the . . . guerrillas in Tigre . . . launched an unprovoked all-out offensive against government forces,” said Mengistu, who interrupted a parliamentary session to make the announcement. The rebels have been fighting since 1975 to topple the Marxist government. But a rebel spokesman in Washington said that the Ethiopians launched the offensive and were “suffering heavy losses.”