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Ethiopia wants town back
28/05/2003 14:03 - (SA)
Addis Ababa - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the controversial decision of the independent Ethio-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) to place Badme town and surrounding localities within Eritrea was "wrong and unjust", the government press reported on Wednesday.
The prime minister stated late on Tuesday that his government would not accept a wrong decision over Badme, the flashpoint over which Ethiopia went to war with Eritrea when the latter invaded and occupied the small town and surrounding areas in the western part of the common border in early May 1998.
"Accepting something that is wrong and unjust as right and just
would not be fair," Meles said in reply to questions raised by
foreign correspondents accompanying Irish singer Bob Geldof, who is on a five day visit to Ethiopia to raise funds for some 14 million people in need of food aid due to severe drought.
Meles made it clear that Ethiopia would press for a peaceful
resolution of the border dispute and would not resort to war.
"We will not shoot at anybody. The only circumstances where we
may have to shoot is if shot at," he stated.
Ethiopia contests the latest Boundary Commission decision on the
grounds that the inhabitants were not asked to which sides the
areas belonged, and also because the decision forces families to
live in separate countries.
Addis Ababa's objection over Badme going to Eritrea had raised
fears of another war between Ethiopia and its former northern
province, despite repeated assurances by Ethiopia that it wants a
peaceful resolution.
The Boundary Commission, according to the UN Mission in
Ethiopia and Eritrea (Unmee), has postponed the demarcation date
for the 1 000km long border with Eritrea, originally
scheduled to begin in July.
The UN Mission has had a 4 200-strong force of observers and
peacekeepers along the border between the two countries since the
parties signed a comprehensive peace agreement in December 2000
which ended their bloody two-and-a-half-year border conflict. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA
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