Wed Oct 24 06:48:00 200717

Fetching...
 
YOU ARE HERE: Homepage > Newsdesk > Article
Ethiopia says it will attend Eritrea border talks
27 Aug 2007 12:22:11 GMT
Source: Reuters
ADDIS ABABA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Monday it will attend a meeting next week in The Hague to discuss its disputed border with Eritrea, but said its neighbour had made demarcation of the frontier impossible.

Tensions remain high after the two nations fought a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people, and on Monday a Foreign Ministry spokesman again accused Eritrea of scuppering any lasting deal.

"The substantial deployment of Eritrean troops into the demilitarised zone, Eritrea's continued constraints on (U.N. peacekeepers) ... and violations of the cessation of hostilities make conditions for demarcation non-existent," said Wahide Belay.

But he said Ethiopia would nonetheless attend the Sept. 6 meeting.

Eritrean officials were not immediately available to comment.

The two countries signed a peace deal in Algiers in 2000 and agreed to submit to binding arbitration by a claims commission and a boundary commission in The Hague.

But the process ground to a halt after Addis Ababa rejected the border as set out by the commission in April 2002 -- in particular the placing of the border village of Badme on Eritrean soil -- while Eritrea refused to consider any changes.

Last November, the commission gave Ethiopia and Eritrea a year to demarcate their 620-mile (1,000-km) border.

Eritrea said the commission should deal with Ethiopia's rejection of the boundary rather than passing demarcation back to the countries themselves.
AlertNet news is provided by

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit                                                                                  Permalink


NATO under pressure for more Afghan troops
Darfur force has troops, needs helicopters-official
Somalia frees U.N. food aid boss
Eritrea makes arrests over assassination bid
Ethiopia ONLF rebels say killed 250 troops
Welthungerhilfe presents Global Hunger Index 2007: Eradicating hunger - a third of the countries on track - hot spot Africa
ACT Rapid Response Payment: Floods in Amhara and Gambella, Ethiopia
CWS situation report: Ethiopian floods
Red Cross Red Crescent statistics show Africa's flooding crisis will only get worse
ACT Alert: Floods in Amhara and Gambella, Ethiopia
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2007-09-27T120616Z_01_AFR01D_RTRIDSP_2_AFRICA-FLOODS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/AFR01D.htm

A woman stands in her house, which was ruined by floods, in Balungo community Bongo district, September 25, 2007. Torrential rains and floods that have swept over East and West Africa in recent weeks, destroying homes and schools and washing away crops and livestock. Conservative estimates put the number of those killed by the deluges at some 200, and aid agencies say a million people have been affected from Ethiopia in the east to Senegal in the west. Picture taken September 25, 2007.



URL: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27466639.htm

For our full disclaimer and copyright information please visit http://www.alertnet.org