No progress on border talks

2006-05-18 20:14

By Les Neuhaus

Addis Ababa - Talks between Ethiopia and Eritrea on resuming the demarcation of their common border ended without any progress on Thursday.

An Ethiopian official said Eritrea had refused to lift restrictions on United Nations peacekeepers in the country.

The talks opened on Wednesday in London, and were intended to break a deadlock between Ethiopia, Eritrea and the international boundary commission, charged with marking the border between the two Horn of Africa nations.

Ethiopia had refused to accept the commission's decision to award the town of Badme to Eritrea. Eritrea protested by placing restrictions on UN peacekeepers operating along the border.

An official in Ethiopia's ministry of foreign affairs said the Ethiopian delegation had attended the talks with "an open mind and in a flexible manner".

'Eritrea asked to lift restrictions'

Tthe official said: "Eritrea failed to show any flexibility on its part by not lifting the restrictions placed on the UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea's operations."

Eritrean officials could not be reached for comment. The Boundary Commission was also not immediately available.

According to the Ethiopian official, international mediators - who witnessed the Algiers Peace Agreement that ended the two-year border war between the two countries in 2000 - told Eritrea that talks on marking the border could not continue until the restrictions on the peacekeepers were lifted.

"Eritrea has been asked by the witnesses to lift the restrictions they imposed on the movement of UNmee in full by Monday, May 22," said the official. "The next meeting will be June 15."

- AP