UN’s Annan says Ethiopia, Eritrea must start talking

Sept 7, 2005 (UNITED NATIONS) — Ethiopia and Eritrea must begin talking to one another if the stalemate over their five-year-old peace agreement is ever to be resolved, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday.

“I would like to call on the international community to spare no effort in bringing the parties together to engage in a constructive dialogue aimed at moving the peace process forward,” Annan said in his latest progress report on the standoff to the U.N. Security Council.

Ultimately, however, it is up to the governments of the two Horn of Africa neighbors to achieve “durable peace and security between their two countries,” Annan added.

Under a December 2000 peace deal ending their two-year border war, Ethiopia and Eritrea agreed to accept the conclusions of an independent boundary commission on where the border should lie.

The commission issued its findings in April 2002 and Eritrea fully accepted them. But the process of marking out the new boundary on the ground broke down after Ethiopia objected that the flashpoint western town of Badme had been awarded to Eritrea. The border war, which killed more than 70,000 people, began when Ethiopia accused Eritrea of invading Badme.

In support of the stalled peace process, a U.N. peacekeeping force, which now numbers about 3,000 troops and observers, has been patrolling a buffer zone separating the two countries’ militaries since July 2000.

Annan said the protracted stalemate was “inherently destabilizing” and urged the Security Council to extend the mission’s mandate for another six months, until March 15.

(Reuters/ST)