No dialogue with Ethiopia on border : Eritrean president

ASMARA, Oct 20 (AFP) — Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki has again declared that he will not discuss a long-running border dispute with Ethiopia, which he said has been settled legally.

The row forced the two countries in the Horn of Africa into a war in 1998, and since then plans to return the region to a durable peace have stalled.

“For lasting peace and stability to prevail in the region, the supremacy of law and agreements must be respected. As such, there should be no resort to dialogue and plea for reconciliation on an issue which had already been settled legally,” Isaias said in a statement.

Between 1998 and 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border war, but signed a peace accord in Algeria four years ago under which the “final and binding” demarcation of their border would be decided by an independent commission.

However, Addis Ababa rejected the commission’s ruling in September 2003 and since then, the peace process has been deadlocked.

Ethiopia has called for dialogue and Eritrea has asked the international community to put pressure on Addis Ababa to respect international law.

The Ethiopian regime organises “anti-Eritrea agitation campaigns by travelling to different countries and inviting foreign personalities,” Isaias added, without giving further details.

Isaias pledged that “truth would prevail at the end,” despite the Ethiopian regime’s “heap of lies”.