CNN Today

CNN 20: Eritrea Independence, April 27, 1993

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, APRIL 27, 1993)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Since dawn this morning, we have been going around polling stations, which opened early, and there were lines of people standing and waiting anxiously to vote. I have been moving around in the city and also in the villages outside, and I find the sense of sense of elation, a sense of expectation, and there is a history in the air, there is something being decided. And you see that people are very anxious to vote and express their views in a very popular way. You see them dancing, cheering, and anxiously waiting for the next move which they hope will decide the future.

BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: The international community is recognizing the new republic of Eritrea. Voters there overwhelmingly approved a referendum of independence from Ethiopia. The three-day election was monitored by the United Nations, which declared the voting free and fair.

The United States, Italy, and Egypt are among countries offering formal recognition. And the Ethiopian government says it will accept the results. This after a brutal 30-year civil war that led to widespread famine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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