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Ethiopia seeks Improved Final Binding Horn ruling
Ethiopia has said that it wants a new commission set up to rule on what it sees as the contested areas of its border with Eritrea. Ethiopia has for a while been disputing parts of the decision of a boundary commission set up under a peace deal, which ended a two-and-a-half year border war.
What could be valuable enough on the Ethiopian border with Etritia for two countries with poor economies to burn GDP fighting a war over?
In a letter to the UN Security Council, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the Hague-based Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission was in terminal crisis. Last year, both sides agreed to accept the commission’s ruling as final and binding. But Mr Meles now says it is unimaginable for the Ethiopian people to accept "a blatant miscarriage of justice" particularly over the award of the town of Gagme Badme to Eritrea which he says was "illegal, unjust and irresponsible".
Now we have the answer. The fight is about the town of Badme.
"We'll abide by the decision of the commission, as long as it goes our way..."
He also warns that the commission’s decision could lead to "another round of war" and therefore the United Nations has an obligation to get involved. The border between the two countries is manned by more than 4,000 UN peacekeepers. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought the border war from 1998 to 2000 and an estimated 70,000 people died. The BBC’s reporter in the region says that Eritrea is unlikely to accept the partial demarcation of the border and will seek to increase its pressure on the international community to persuade Ethiopia to accept the ruling
As I remember, one of the Etritian strategies was to offer their country as a base of the war on terror. Why would any nation reliquish soverignity to the US as a way to pressure Ethiopia into ceding the town of Badme. What the hell is in Badme?
However, one diplomat has talked of being stumped as to how to progress. After chairing military talks last week, UN force commander General Robert Gordon warned that the peacekeeping operation risked ending in failure unless speedy steps were taken to mark the border.
Glad the US forewent the opportunity to ally with Etritia and instead barged our way into Djibouti. Here is some unsolicited Super Hose advise to Etritia: let Ethopia have Badme as long as the West forks over $400M to build Afro-Disney in your country.
Posted by: Super Hose 2003-09-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=19052