Ethiopian parliament adopts plan to advance peace process with Eritrea

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 25 (AFP) — Lawmakers in Ethiopia on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s plan to advance a stalled peace process with Eritrea, principally by dropping a rejection of a special commission’s ruling on the Horn of Africa neighbours’ disputed border.

Parliamentary spokeswoman Lamaz Makoneen told AFP that of the 441 legislators in the house only 10 voted against Meles’ plan and three abstained from the ballot.

The plan, aimed at turning the page on a 1998-2000 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, said Addis Ababa now accepted “in principle” the April 2002 ruling of a special border commission set up under a peace accord the two countries signed in Algiers in 2000.

In September 2003, Ethiopia rejected this ruling as “illegal and unjust,” preventing the crucial process of physically marking out the border from starting.

Since then, relations between the neighbours have been virtually non-existent and characterised by hostile and accusatory press statements.