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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN responsible for preventing new trouble, Ethiopia says

ADDIS ABABA, 6 October 2003 (IRIN) - Ethiopia has said responsibility for averting renewed trouble with neighbouring Eritrea lies with the Security Council, after the UN body rejected its calls for a new entity to rule on the common border.

The government also appealed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to "personally intervene directly" to set up a new mechanism aimed at breaking the current deadlock.

The comments came in a four-page statement released on Saturday after the UN called upon Ethiopia to implement the boundary decision as part of the peace deal it signed with Eritrea.

Under the December 2000 Algiers peace agreement, Ethiopia and Eritrea agreed that an independent boundary commission would rule on their common border after their bloody two-year war, and that they would abide by the decision.

But Ethiopia has refused to accept the April 2002 ruling, primarily over the awarding of Badme - flashpoint of the war - to Eritrea. Demarcation of the contested 1,000 km border has been
delayed twice, and is now scheduled to take place this month.

The Ethiopian statement, released by the information ministry, accused the commission of committing "a grave error" and said there was "no ground to press Ethiopia to accept this utterly illegal and unjust decision".

It said Ethiopia was "obliged" to take the matter to the Security Council.

"It is essential and absolutely correct for the Ethiopian people to protest against the illegal and baseless decision of the border commission," the statement said.

"However any chance that may trigger the eruption of a prolonged crisis and war must be averted. This responsibility above all lies with the United Nations Security Council," it added.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi earlier wrote to the Security Council, calling for a new body to rule on contested parts of the border and warning that the current decision was "a recipe for continued instability, and even recurring wars".

The UN responded last week by calling on Ethiopia to implement the ruling as it stood, and urging both countries to start a dialogue.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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