US confirms Eritrea-Ethiopia mediation despite Asmara coolness

12 January 2006 (WASHINGTON) — A US diplomatic mission to ease border tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia is still on despite a cool reception by the Eritrean government, the State Department said Thursday.

It said Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer and retired Marine General Carlton Fulford were sticking to their plans to visit Asmara and Addis Ababa in the coming days.

“Assistant Secretary Frazer still thinks that this is an important issue and it’s certainly worth her time and involvement,” said Julie Reside, a State Department spokesperson.

She spoke after a statement published Thursday on the website of the Eritrean information ministry cast doubt on the “legality” and “political relevance” of the US mission.

It said it would welcome only those initiatives that forced its arch-rival neighbor Ethiopia to accept a binding 2002 border demarcation that resulted from a peace deal ending their 1998-2000 war.

Ethiopia has demanded revisions to the border ruling by an international panel that it had previously accepted as part of efforts to end the conflict that cost some 80,000 lives.

Reside said Washington backed “the position of both Eritrea and Ethiopia on the final and binding nature of the (border) decision that the parties stated prior to the decision’s announcement.”

She said the Frazer mission demonstrated the US commitment to the boundary commission ruling and “seeks to jumpstart efforts toward demarcation of the border.”

The planned US mediation came as the UN Security Council mulled the future of its peacekeeping troops on the border who have been severely hampered by restrictions slapped on them by Eritrea.

A senior US official expressed renewed concern over the curbs on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), including a ban on helicopter flights and the expulsion of UNMEE’s North American and European personnel.

The official, who asked not to be named, shrugged off Eritrean skepticism over the Frazer mission. “I think that Jendayi is still looking to go out there and would expect the cooperation of the Eritrean government,” he said.

Details of Frazer’s itinerary were not immediately available.