Border set-back for Ethiopia

80,000 died in the border war

Ethiopia's request for a revision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission ruling on the disputed border has been dismissed.

"It is inadmissible and no further action will be taken upon it," the commission said.

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In April, the Boundary Commission in the Hague drew up the new border - a move intended to finally settle the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia which had led to a bloody two-year war.

However the maps released by the commission did not show the town of Badme where the war had started and both sides claimed that it had been allocated to them.

A request for interpretation and "correction" of the commission ruling was submitted by the Ethiopian government on 13 May this year.

Binding and final

The latest decision by the Commission in the Hague comes ahead of the meeting between Eritrea and Ethiopia scheduled for 16 July to discuss implementing the border settlement.

Ethiopia wants the border ruling to give it what it fought for

Ethiopia disputed the demarcation of rivers and said that mistakes had been in identifying geographical features.

When the ruling was announced on 13 April, both countries agreed to respect it.

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, said that both countries had accepted it as binding and final.

The meeting in the Hague in two weeks time is to"thrash out the physical demarcation of the 1,000 km border", according to the UN.

A priority is to launch the demarcation process to enable UNMEE to start clearing landmines from areas where border posts will be placed.

A spokesperson for the mission, Gail Bindley Taylor-Sainte, says the Hague meeting will set the pace for the whole peace process.

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