Ethiopia rejects decision on border demarcation with Eritrea

Once again, Ethiopia rejected a decision issued by an independent committee for giving to Eritrea a border village under dispute, just days after the UN notified the decision to Addis Ababa.

A statement issued by the Ethiopian ministry of information said that Addis Ababa will not accept the decision which might lead to destabilizing the situation and renew war.

The statement which was broadcast by the state's TV added that there is no justification "for the pressure on Ethiopia to accept this repressive and illegal decision." The statement noted that the border committee committed a grave mistake by giving Badme area to Eritrea despite the proven evidences given by Ethiopia to prove that this border town and the surrounding have always been under its administration.

The two countries which are situated in the African horn area launched a border war during the period from 1998- 2000 and this resulted in killing 70,000. A peace agreement was signed in 2000 but Ethiopia several times defied decisions concerning border demarcation.

Last week, the UN rejected a written request proposed by the Ethiopian prime minister to that the UN take measures to settle the conflict and notified Addis Ababa on the need to implement the sentence issued by the Eritrean- Ethiopian border committee which takes the Hague as a headquarters.

Ethiopia's prime minister filed a complaint to the UN security council in September on the decision of the committee which gives Badme village to Eritrea. Ethiopia criticized the border decision once again after the UN announced its decision on late night Friday.

It is, however, decided that the new border will be demarcated by the mid of October and the process to end in July 2004.