Crisis talks over Horn border row

By Martin Plaut
BBC Africa analyst

The two countries fought a trench war of attrition

A commission that is attempting to end the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea is holding crisis talks in the Netherlands after Eritrea decided to boycott any further meetings to discuss the issue.

The Eritreans claim that the Boundary Commission - which was established in 2000, at the end of the border war between the two countries - is straying beyond its terms of reference, by making what are described as "further concessions" to Ethiopia.

The Boundary Commission is now suggesting the establishment of a new mechanism to resolve serious disputes between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

It calls for the United Nations or the international community to set up a new forum to deal with these irreconcilable problems.

'Implacable'

Its new proposal calls for the secretary of the Boundary Commission to: "inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Witnesses of the Algiers Agreement [that ended the Ethiopia-Eritrea border war] that the situation is one which is beyond the Commission's powers to remedy on the grounds of manifest implacability.

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"Any further action to resolve any problems which arise in respect of those situations will be a matter for decision within whatever mechanism or for a which the UN or other Witnesses may establish for that purpose."

The suggestion has been angrily denounced by Eritrea, which has written to the commission accusing it of giving in to Ethiopian pressure.

A letter from the Eritrean legal adviser, Professor Lea Brilmayer, dated 13 June declares that no progress will be achieved until Ethiopia accepts without reservation the Boundary Commission's ruling.

It concludes: "Appeasing Ethiopia at this point will serve only to postpone - and not remedy - Ethiopia's continuing obstructionism and defiance of the Commission's 13 April 2002 Award."

US role

Ever since the commission ruled on the border four years ago, Eritrea has demanded that the decision be implemented without further changes.

Ethiopia - on the other hand - has insisted that around 30 border villages cannot be split in half.

TENSE BORDER Dec 2000: Peace agreement Apr 2002: Border ruling Mar 2003: Ethiopian complaint over Badme rejected Sep 2003: Ethiopia asks for new ruling Feb 2005: UN concern at military build-up Oct 2005: Eritrea restricts peacekeepers' activities Nov 2005: UN sanctions threat if no compliance with 2000 deal Q&A: Horn's bitter war How brothers fell out

Eritrea believes that any new disputes mechanisms would allow Ethiopia to pick apart the commission's decisions, by challenging its ruling point by point all along the 1,000km border.

And Eritrea sees the hand of the United States behind these changes.

Certainly Eritrea has done little to win over friends in Washington - having repeatedly refused to even meet senior American diplomats who have come to see them.

Interviewed after he returned from a trip to the region earlier this month, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto complained that no senior Eritrea was even prepared to meet them.

"We went to Eritrea earlier in the month, and of course we only saw one official.

"We've made repeated requests to talk with President Isaias [Afewerki] and he ignored us at every step... The only people who have opened their doors have been Ethiopia, and not Eritrea. We find it very frustrating but also very disappointing."

The Boundary Commission has been attempting to deal with the apparently irreconcilable demands of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

It insists that its attempts to resolve these dispute have not been fatally undermined.

And the commission will now write to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to ask for his support - arguing that none of the proposed changes alter their decision on the Ethiopia Eritrea border in any fundamental way.

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