Ethiopia slams Eritrea

2006-02-02 13:47

Addis Ababa - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Thursday accused Eritrea of arrogant, war-mongering behaviour as border tensions between the arch-rival neighbours intensified after a recent lull.

Meles blamed the current frontier problems on Eritrea, which has warned new conflict is looming because Ethiopia has refused to accept a border demarcation that emanated from a 2000 peace deal ending their bloody two-year war.

In speech to parliament, he criticised Asmara for keeping the same stance it held before the start of the war in 1998 by insisting it has the right to take by force territory it considers its own.

"Even now it is taking the same line by stating it has the right to take what it claims is occupied land by force," Meles said, noting that an international panel in December had blamed Eritrea for the start of the war.

"This position, which is the same as at the beginning of the war, is as the claims commission clearly pointed out, the stance of an invader," he said. "This is the real source of the problem."

"The main reason and source of the border conflict ... is the arrogant and war-mongering invader that is the Eritrean regime," Meles said.

"The Ethiopian government, which abides by international law and wants a peaceful option, is not the source and reason of this conflict," he said.

Ethiopia and Eritrea have been trading bitter accusations of perfidy over the border for months, leading to a major escalation in border tension and fears of a resumption of the war that claimed about 80 :000 lives.

Asmara is demanding that Addis Ababa accept the 2002 border demarcation that awarded the flashpoint town of Badme to Eritrea and has angrily accused the United Nations and world powers of ignoring Ethiopia's refusal to do so.

To show its displeasure, Eritrea has slapped restrictions on UN peacekeepers monitoring the 1 000km border and expelled the mission's North American and European staff.

It has refused to respond to UN Security Council demands, backed by the threat of sanctions, to lift the curbs and last month snubbed a US diplomatic mission aimed at jumpstarting the implementation of the border ruling.

At the weekend, Eritrea blasted the United States for "evil" policies that it said encouraged Ethiopia to ignore the demarcation and thus raise the risk of new war.

Meles received the US delegation and, in his speech to parliament, praised the United States for its "commendable and positive step" in a side-swipe at Eritrea.

He also reiterated that Ethiopia accepted the border ruling in principle but said that adjustments were necessary in order to prevent families in the Badme area from being split between two nations.

- SAPA