Ethiopia says seeking compensation on border war

Dec 21, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia was seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation after an international commission ruled Eritrea started their 1998-2000 war.

“We are currently preparing our damages claim, but it will run into hundreds of millions of dollars,” Ibrahim Idris, the director general of the Ethiopian government’s legal affairs department, told journalists at a press conference.

A series of rulings earlier this week by the Amsterdam-based Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission held Eritrea responsible for igniting the war by invading the town of Badme, but also found Ethiopian troops liable for abusing civilians and looting or destroying property in subsequent military actions and during its occupation of Eritrean territory.

The award comes amid fears of renewed fighting, with both nations massing armies along their 1,000-kilometer frontier and Eritrea restricting the work of U.N. peacekeepers.

(AP/ST)