Boundary offices to close because of Ethiopian refusal

ASMARA, March 11 (AFP) — The independent boundary commission that defined the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia after their 1998-2000 war will close field offices because of Addis Ababa’s refusal to accept the demarcation, the UN said Thursday.

Two unidentified UN observers of the UNMEE (UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea) patrol the border. (AFP).

The commission “has indicated that it is taking immediate steps to close down its field offices for the time being. These can be reactivated – though subject to some months of lead time – if Ethiopia abandons its present insistence on preconditions for the implementation of the demarcation,” said the text which is part of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s report on the two countries.

In 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace accord under which they promised to respect the demarcation of the border to be decided by an independent commission in April 2002.

But Ethiopia rejected the decision until November, when it said it accepted the commission’s ruling in principle but wanted “adjustments.”

The Eritrean government insisted that it will only accept the full implementation of the commission’s ruling.

Three years after the ruling, demarcation has still not begun, and tensions were high between the Horn of Africa neighbours.

Yemane Gebremeskel, cabinet director for Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki,

told reporters he understood the decision to close the offices.

“I can’t blame them, he told reporters. “What is the UN Security Council going to do now?”

He urged other countries to put pressure on Ethiopia for it to respect international law and the commission’s ruling.

In his report, Annan said he was concerned about the continuing build-up of Ethiopian troops near the border with Eritrea. He also urged both sides to “refrain from any action that could destabilise the situation.”