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Eritrean leader slams Ethiopia
21/05/2003 10:54 - (SA)
Asmara - Eritrean President Issaias Afework slammed Ethiopia for sending settlers into the disputed border village that sparked their 1998-2000 war before an international commission demarcates the final border.
But Afewoki said that despite an influx of Ethiopians into Badme he was confident the independent commission would leave the village inside Eritrean territory in line with an international ruling last year.
"You can't bring in people in a matter of months and say these are people ar from the region," Afewoki said.
Tens of thousands of soldiers died in the World War I-style trench conflict which broke out between the two former allies five years after Eritrea officially became independent in 1993.
The war was sparked by Eritrea's seizure of Badma, but Ethiopian forces later moved deep into Eritrean territory and, after fierce fighting the two countries signed a peace agreement in Algiers in December 2000 that left it to an international commission to draw a new border between the two countries.
In April 2002 the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission (EEBC) sitting in The Hague delivered its verdict on the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea. But depending on how the commission's maps are read, Badme could be on either side of the border.
The final decision on the village's fate is expected to come in July when the EEBC begins to demarcate the border in the region.
Ethiopia has been administering the village, and residents have recently vowed to defend the village from any handover to Eritrea.
Afewoki charged the Ethiopian government had failed to prepare the residents for the handover.
"The (Ethiopian) government is reluctant to face these challenges and be courageous enough to say 'this was a mistake'. We have to accept the decision of the court," said Afewoki.
The Eritrean president said he saw little chance of a new war over the sparsely populated area which lies in rocky terrain.
"I don't see where they can get any excuse to invade or reject the decision of the court," said Afewoki.
Despite what he described as delaying tactics by the Ethiopians, Afewoki said he expected the demarcation of the village to proceed in under the agreed timetable. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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