Military

DATE=11/25/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT (L-ONLY)

TITLE=CQ ETHIOPIA/ERITREA BORDER

NUMBER=2-320692

BYLINE=CATHY MAJTENYI

DATELINE=NAIROBI

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

///EDS: REISSUED. CHANGES SPELLING TO ZENAWI IN FIRST GRAF. OF TEXT AND CHANGES TITLE FROM PRESIDENT TO PRIME MINISTER.///

HEADLINE: Ethiopia Accepts Boundary Commission's Ruling

INTRO: After more than a year, the Ethiopian government has indicated it would accept "in principle" a ruling by an independent commission on the exact location of the countries' shared border. Cathy Majtenyi reports from VOA's East African Bureau in Nairobi.

TEXT: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament that although the independent Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's ruling is, in his words, "unjust and unfair," it is not worth going to war over.

He said his country should start talking to Eritrea as soon as possible to implement the commission's ruling.

Mr. Meles said Ethiopia's acceptance of the ruling should put the mind of the international community at ease and assure them war is not imminent between the two countries.

Ethiopia and Eritrea had waged a bitter conflict over their border from 1998 to 2000, during which some 70-thousand people were killed.

Under a peace agreement signed in 2000, the independent Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission was created to mark the one thousand-kilometre border, while more than four-thousand U.N. peacekeepers were dispatched to ensure the stability of the border.

Last year, Ethiopia rejected the boundary commission's ruling that an area called Badme belongs to Eritrea, effectively stopping a demarcation exercise and keeping the exact location of the border in limbo.

Eritrea had avoided subsequent negotiation efforts, saying that the onus was on Ethiopia to accept the commission's legal and binding ruling.

Since then, U.N. officials, analysts, and others have urged the two countries to come to an agreement over the border so as to avoid another war. (SIGNED)

NEB/CM/MEM/RAE