Ethiopia accepts border ruling
2007-06-28 14:06
Addis Ababa - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Thursday he had accepted a 2002-border ruling with the country's arch-foe Eritrea, but insisted on new talks on how to implement it.
"Regarding Eritrea, we opt to settle our differences peacefully. We have accepted, without conditions, the boundary commission's ruling," Meles told parliament.
"But we have announced our intention to negotiate the implementation, since this is the only way to avoid more problems," he added.
The two neighbours signed a peace deal ending their 1998-2000 war over the precise demarcation of their border, but tensions have remained high as they continue to bicker over the fate of the boundary ruling.
Although an independent boundary commission formed after the peace deal awarded the flashpoint town of Badme to Eritrea, it has remained under Ethiopian control.
Ethiopia insists the ruling should be altered since it will split families and villages between the two countries.
Eritrea has meanwhile repeatedly rejected calls for renegotiation of the border ruling and instead introduced restrictions including bans on air patrols and United Nations peacekeepers monitoring the buffer zone, blaming the UN Security Council for failing to press Addis Ababa to fully implement the peace deal.
Meles said on Thursday his nation was prepared to tackle any attack from Eritrea.
"Our military capability has been strengthened to avoid any threat to our sovereignty. With economic consideration, sufficient budgetary support has been allocated to crush any Eritrean invasion on our territory," he said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned of the potential for a new outbreak of hostilities between the two east African countries, pointing to a worsening situation with heavy troop deployments in the border buffer zone.