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ERITREA – ETHIOPIA : Will Axworthy Succeed Where Others Have Failed?

By Sonny Inbaraj

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 6, 2004 (IPS) — As the United Nations’ new envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea settles into his post, relations between the two countries appear as inflexible as ever.

The appointment of Lloyd Axworthy, a former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, was confirmed at the end of last month after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan received approval from the Security Council.

Axworthy’s brief, according to Annan, is to “help move the peace process forward” between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The two countries are locked in a disagreement about a ruling made by the boundary commission which is mapping out their common border.

The work of the commission comes in the wake of a December 2000 accord, signed in Algiers, that put an end to a border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Both parties agreed to accept the decisions of an independent boundary commission.

However in April 2002, Ethiopia rejected the body’s ruling that the town of Badme, a flashpoint in the conflict, was located in Eritrean territory.

Axworthy, acclaimed for this work on the international treaty banning anti-personnel mines, has come into office on a tide of good will.

“He’s a reputable gentleman who’s done this before, and he’s going to lend his good offices to help the parties come to the proper conclusion. If he comes up with a suggestion for us to help in some fashion, we’ll take a look at it,” said Charles Snyder, the Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.

But, the UN envoy will soon encounter the same obstacles that have confounded the head of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, during the past three years.

The European Union, backed by the U.S., was instrumental in pushing for the appointment of a special envoy to kick-start the stalled peace process – this after Legwaila’s shuttle diplomacy appeared to lead nowhere. (The European Union, the U.S. and the African Union are custodians of the Algiers Peace Accord.)

Earlier this week, the UNMEE head told reporters that tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea were running high.

“The kind of tension we are experiencing there is dangerous, especially dangerous in the sense that we are dealing with two countries that fought a terrible war more than three years ago, and shed a lot of blood and killed more than 100,000 people,” Legwaila said in New York.

However, he added that there were no signs of an imminent resumption of fighting. UNMEE’s favourite catchphrase to describe the current situation is “tense but militarily stable”.

Be that as it may, the international community is running out of patience with footing the bill for the protracted peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Tens of millions of dollars are being spent on maintaining 4,200 UN troops in a 25-kilometre-wide buffer area between the two states that is known as the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ).

“One hundred and 80 million dollars spent on keeping soldiers sitting around the border and keeping both sides apart cannot go on indefinitely. There are better things to spend the money on,” said British Foreign Office Minister Chris Mullin, after concluding a recent visit to the region.

“This is not going to be like North and South Korea where we (the international community) have sat there for 50 years. Something has got to move,” he added.

While Ethiopia has welcomed Axworthy’s appointment, Eritrea fears the move might lead to the border commission’s rulings being altered in Addis Ababa’s favour.

“I can’t see what his (Axworthy’s) job will be in Eritrea,” Presidential Cabinet Chief Yemene Gebremeskel noted in the capital, Asmara, recently.

“If there is no progress today in the peace process, it’s because of one side. The job of the UN is to persuade Ethiopia to accept the boundary commission’s decision,” he said.

If Axworthy’s efforts fail, the international community may resort to sanctions in a bid to end the standoff.

Said Mullin, “I don’t rule out that sometime in the future that might happen. We have no plans to do so at the moment – but I do not rule it out in the future.”

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