Ethiopia prime minister reiterates rejection of border ruling

ADDIS ABABA, May 12 (AFP) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has reiterated his country’s rejection of an independent commission’s ruling on the path of his country’s border with Eritrea.

“We are not ready to accept a decision that splits or tears down households and villages and jeopardizes future peace in the region,” Meles said in an interview on state-run Ethiopian television Tuesday night.

“We are not in a position to take a decision that puts a quarter of a family on one side of the border and three-quarters of the same family on the other side,” Meles said.

“We are not challenging the EEBC decision out of the blue. What we are saying is that it cannot be implemented and it will not bring peace,” he said.

“The decision is tearing apart a single house, a village and even family members and that is why we have been protesting and appealing to the appropriate entities,” he said.

“To accept the EEBC (Ethiopia Eritrea Boundary Commission) decision is like claiming or saying there will not be fire even if you light a match near an inflammable material,” he added.

Ethiopia has rejected the commission’s April 2002 ruling, despite agreeing, in a peace accord signed with Eritrea in December 2000, after a two-year war, to respect it as “final and binding.”

In January, UN chief Kofi Annan appointed Canadian former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy to try to break the deadlock between Asmara and Addis Ababa.

But Eritrea, insisting it had international law on its side, said there was nothing to discuss and rejected Axworthy’s mediation.