Ethiopia says still need to discuss details with Eritrea on border row

Feb 1, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Eritrea need only sit down with Ethiopia and work out the details of taking possession of a disputed bordertown the two fought a war over, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday

“On the Ethiopian side, we have said that while we do not like the boundary commission’s decision, we will nevertheless accept it,” Meles Zenawi said of the legally binding decision that ruled the flashpoint town of Badme belongs to Eritrea.

The Horn of Africa neighbours agreed to accept the pronouncement of the International Claims Commission under a peace deal signed in 2000.

But implementation requires discussion to work out the details of marking a border where homes, farmland and lives are at stake, he said.

“We are not asking for the moon here. We are asking that there be dialogue, as is the normal practice,” Meles said, adding a similar ruling on a Nigeria-Cameroon border dispute could be a model to follow.

Cameroon won a ruling from the Hague-based commission awarding the disputed Bakassi peninsula to it but Nigeria appealed, and partial demarcation has already started through mediation.

“The Nigerian side said the court has made its decision, now let’s talk implementation. That’s exactly what we have asked for,” he said.

“So we are on the right side of the law, we are on the right side of accepted international practice. It is Eritrea that has been consistently belligerent and disdainful of international law and practices.”

TINY NEIGHBOUR

Eritrea, Ethiopia’s tiny neighbour, is angry that world powers have failed to use their considerable leverage with aid-dependent Ethiopia to push it to honour the peace treaty that ended the two-year war.

Eritrea, which won its independence from Ethiopia 15 years ago, has repeatedly rejected any diplomatic initiative that does not focus on enforcing demarcation of the border.

Tensions along the 1,000 km (620 mile) border have increased in recent months, sparking fears of renewed war, although Ethiopia pulled its troops back to meet a December U.N. Security Council demand that both sides lower their troop levels.

Eritrea has not complied and blames the United Nations for not enforcing the border ruling.

A promising U.S. State Department mission to solve the impasse also ended with no progress after Eritrea refused to allow the team to visit the border where a 1998-2000 war cost 70,000 lives.

Asmara accused Washington of making “evil attempts” to derail the ruling.

“The problem faced by the American team talking to the Eritreans is symptomatic of the real problem here,” Meles said of the United States, a strong ally of Ethiopia — Washington’s top anti-terrorism partner in the region.

“That is the real cause, the belligerence of Eritrea and its disdain and disregard for international law and norms,” he said.

The commission at the Hague ruled Eritrea broke the law by attacking Ethiopia without provocation, and is liable for compensation to Ethiopia — which analysts say may provide new piece diplomatic leverage for Addis.

Emperor Haile Selassie annexed Eritrea in 1962, triggering a guerrilla struggle that ended in its independence in 1991.

(Reuters)