INTERVIEW-Eritrea says border stalemate will lead to war

By Ed Harris

ASMARA, April 1 (Reuters) – The stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea over their border is unsustainable and will lead to war, although peaceful options to end it remain open, a senior Eritrean official said on Friday.

The two Horn of Africa countries fought a 1998-2000 war which ended with a deal that both sides would accept an independent commission’s decision on where the border should be.

Ethiopia was unhappy with the ruling issued in April 2002, which awarded a disputed town to Eritrea. Asmara demanded the decision should be accepted in full.

Now troops from both countries face each other across a 25-km (16-mile) demilitarised zone patrolled by U.N. troops.

Tensions and rhetoric between the two have risen since December, when Ethiopia moved as many as 48,000 troops closer to the frontier.

“The current situation is not sustainable. Sooner or later, it is going to deteriorate, it is going to lead to war,” said Yemane Ghebremeskel, Director of the Office of President.

“If there is no light at the end of the tunnel, if the peace process is not progressing, obviously that will set in motion a different set of factors,” he told Reuters.

“The opportunity for peace is still there, but you need a much more firm, a much more aggressive, a much more bold measure from the international community,” he added.

Last month, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that extended the U.N. peacekeeping mandate in the region for another six months, which many saw as insufficiently forceful.

“The resolution is toothless. It does not have any meaning,” said Ghebremeskel.

“It does not compel Ethiopia to abide by the boundary commission, and to take concrete measures. It does not talk about timelines, it does not talk about consequences,” he added.

Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, on Thursday said the mandate was not strong enough to let both countries know the Security Council was running out of patience.

Legwaila also warned that the stalemate could lead to war if not solved quickly.

In November, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said he had accepted the border ruling “in principle,” but wanted talks with Asmara before the border was demarcated. Eritrea wants the border demarcation to be completed before any talks.