Ethiopia, Eritrea talks unclear

2006-06-15 08:35

Asmara - Arch-foes and Horn of Africa neighbours Ethiopia and Eritrea tussled on Wednesday over the holding of a meeting to discuss their simmering border dispute, as the fate of the planned talks remained unclear.

Asmara said that it would not attend the meeting set for Thursday in The Hague, the Netherlands, unless Addis Ababa agreed to the terms of a 2002 border ruling, which it had repeatedly called to be reviewed.

Yemane Gebremeskel, director of the president's office, said: "There will be a meeting on the basis of assurances from Ethiopia that it unequivocally accepts the boundary commission's decision.

"Eritrea has asked for clarification. If we get that assurance tomorrow, then a meeting will take place."

Eritrea refuses to participate

But, Ethiopia said that the meeting was called off because of Eritrea's refusal to participate and regretted the move as "disappointing".

A foreign affairs ministry official in Addis Ababa said: "The meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled due to Eritrea's refusal to participate.

"This is very disappointing. What appears is that what Eritrea wants is tension in the region and a boundary dispute. They don't want to bring the process of demarcation forward, they are not interested in peace."

Last month, the two countries blamed each other for the failure of talks held in London aimed at ending the deadlock over their tense border that many feared could spark a new war.

Demarcation was final - Eritrea

Ethiopia wanted the border ruling to be reviewed as it awarded the flashpoint town of Badme to Eritrea, arguing it unfairly divided families and homes between the two countries.

Eritrea had rejected that stance, arguing that the demarcation was final and had loudly complained that the international community had not done enough to press Ethiopia to accept the decision.

Yemane said: "Fruitless meetings are not useful", accusing the failure of the London talks on Ethiopia's insistence on the review of the border ruling.

According to Yemane: "At the last two meetings, Ethiopia obstructed demarcation by asking for partial demarcation and changes in the ruling's implementation.

"What is the point of talking about practical issues when Ethiopia is intransigent on its position?"

As a sign of frustration, Asmara slapped wide-ranging restrictions on the United Nations border mission there called UNMEE, restricting patrols, grounding helicopters flights as well as expelling all Western staff attached to the mission.

- AFP