Eritrean militiaman shot on tense Ethiopian border

By Ed Harris

ASMARA, May 5 (Reuters) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead an Eritrean militiaman close to the border with Ethiopia, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Thursday, the latest in a spate of violent incidents near the tense frontier.

Witnesses said several armed men, dressed in green fatigues, crossed from Ethiopia and shot the militiaman in the foot, thigh and head, said Musi Khumalo of the U.N. peacekeeping force.

Relations between the neighbours who fought a 1998-2000 border war have worsened in recent months, and fresh violence has fuelled fears that war could break out again.

“We can confirm that an incident took place on the 26th April and this happened in the Fawlina area…One person was killed,” Khumalo, spokeswoman for the U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), told a news conference.

U.N. soldiers found the body of the Eritrean militiaman close to the Mereb River Bridge, roughly half way along the 1,000 km (620 mile) border between the Horn of Africa nations.

Ethiopia denied any involvement in the incident, she added.

Allegations of illegal border incursions are regularly made by both sides, UNMEE sources say. In December, Ethiopia moved as many as 48,000 troops closer to the border.

The souring of relations is linked to a failure to demarcate the boundary as outlined by an independent commission under a 2000 peace deal.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in November that Ethiopia accepted “in principle” the ruling on demarcation but insisted on dialogue first.

But Eritrea insists on a full demarcation before dialogue, saying that under the terms peace agreement, both sides agreed the commission’s ruling would be “final and binding”.

Ethiopia said earlier this month that its army had killed 32 armed men sent by Eritrea to create havoc before Ethiopia’s May elections, a charge Eritrea denied. Four Ethiopians were wounded by a freshly planted landmine in early April.