|
Eritrea cool on US diplomacy
09/02/2006 14:17 - (SA)
Asmara - Eritrea on Thursday reacted coolly to a United States pledge at the United Nations to pursue diplomatic initiatives in a bid to resolve the tense border stalemate between it and archrival neighbour, Ethiopia.
Asmara, which last month snubbed a senior US envoy, said the time had come for Ethiopia to be forced to accept a four-year-old border demarcation, the rejection of which was the main cause of the tensions.
Yemane Gebremeskel, director of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki's office, said: "They are talking about mechanics, what we want to see are tangible results on the ground."
On Wednesday, the US won another month from the UN security council for its mediation bid on the matter despite Eritrean resistance to it and demands for the immediate enforcement of the border ruling.
Algiers peace deal
As part of the US bid, it said efforts were under way to convene a meeting of the witnesses to the 2000 Algiers peace deal that ended the bloody two-year war between Ethiopia and Eritrea to be followed by further discussions by the international panel that set the new border two years later.
But, Yemane said the time for talk had passed and that Eritrea's stance could no longer be ignored.
He said: "The Eritrean demands are long overdue, we have to see the implementation of the Algiers agreement and the demarcation.
"The border decision was made in 2002, four years ago. Nobody can justify the delay."
Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border war from 1998 to 2000 that cost some 80 000 lives before the Algiers accord was reached in which both vowed to respect the border ruling.
UN peacekeepers
However, Ethiopia had thus far rejected it and Eritrea had repeatedly warned of a new conflict unless it was accepted and complained vehemently that the international community was favouring its larger neighbour.
To show its displeasure with the UN, Asmara had slapped restrictions on UN peacekeepers monitoring the 1 000km border and expelled North American and European peacekeeping staff.
It had refused to respond to UN security council demands, backed by the threat of sanctions, to lift the curbs.
In late January, Asmara slammed the US for "evil" foreign policies that encouraged Ethiopia to ignore the border ruling and brought the two nations to the brink of new war.
According to information ministry: "The current extremely sad and dangerous situation is the outcome of the erroneous US foreign policy."
Earlier that month, Eritrea refused to co-operate in a fact-finding visit to the country by a senior US diplomat.
|
News
