Eritrea shows anger towards international community

Oct 24, 2005 (ASMARA) — Five years after Eritrea fought a border war with Ethiopia, the tiny Horn of Africa nation has increasingly isolated itself, showing anger towards the international community and intensifying its sabre-rattling.

This nation on the western banks of the Red Sea led by President Issaias Afeworki since independence in 1993, has been facing a litany of condemnation for its record on human rights and press freedom.

Eritrean officials say the current standoff stems from Ethiopia’s unwillingness to respect a decision by an independent commission that established their common border, despite agreeing to respect the ruling as “final and binding”.

Eritrea gained independence from neighbouring Ethiopia in 1993, but border disputes between them have remained unresolved.

These stem from demarcations by former colonial powers. When Britain replaced Italy in 1941 as the new colonial power, it maintained the earlier demarcations, leading to a 30-year independence struggle.

While Ethiopia received backing from the United States and Russia during the struggle, Eritrea practically had none, hence the current resentment towards major world powers.

Now it is threatening a new war, arguing that the world has failed to force Ethiopia to comply with agreements.

“I wish to categorically inform the assembly that Eritrea is determined, and has the right, to defend and preserve its territorial integrity by any means possible,” Finance Minister Berhane Abrehe told the United Nations General Assembly in September.

“If the United Nations fails to reverse the occupation, it will be as equally responsible as Ethiopia is for any renewed armed conflict and its consequences,” he warned.

In recent months, Asmara has adopted tough measures to restrict UN operations on its territory.

The most recent was this month when it banned helicopter overflights by the UN mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea, reducing the efficiency of 3 289 Eritrea-based peacekeepers monitoring the buffer zone.

The measure prompted the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) to close 18 of its 40 border posts in addition to earlier halting its mine clearance operations in the area for safety reasons.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Eritrea to reconsider the flight restriction. The world body says this is severely hampering its operations in the Horn of Africa nation.

But Afeworki has spurned the appeal.

Apart from the UN mission, aid organisations operating here have also been facing restrictions from the government.

In August, the United States ambassador to Asmara, Scott DeLisi, said the US Agency for International Development (USAid) had been told to cease its activities in Eritrea because the government was “uncomfortable” with its work.

Two days earlier, the UN special envoy for the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa had complained about the Eritrean authorities impounding nearly 90 UN vehicles.

Also in August, the UN World Food Programme reported that incoming food aid was being blocked at the port of Massawa because of legislation passed in May requiring all humanitarian imports to be taxed.

(AFP/ST)