Eritrea says US responsible of border row stalemate with Ethiopia

April 12, 2007 (ASMARA) — Eritrea on Thursday accused Washington of blocking implementation of a ruling on its border dispute with Ethiopia, and warned that failure to enforce it could lead to a crisis as serious as that in Somalia.

Yemane Gebremeskel, director of Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki’s office, said Washington had stopped the United Nations Security Council from enforcing the 2002 border ruling by an independent panel.

“It boils down to the policy of the US government, for reasons that are not easy for us to understand,” Yemane told reporters on Thursday, on the eve of the fifth anniversary since the independent commission’s border ruling.

“The US administration has preferred not to allow the decision to be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the agreement.”

Yemane warned that failure to enforce the decision by the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission, which is due to disband in November, could result in as serious a crisis as that in the war-torn nation of Somalia.

“If conflict erupts it is going to be equally grave and involve the loss of life,” Yemane warned.

Washington has dismissed such accusations in the past.

A State Department report last month blamed Asmara for using the border dispute to justify restrictions on civil liberties despite international efforts to resolve the situation.

The panel’s decision awarded the flashpoint border town of Badme to Eritrea. Ethiopia says the ruling must be altered since it will split families and villages between the two countries.

The result has been that the 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) border remains undemarcated and a source of constant tension in the region.

(AFP)