Henish Island decision due within a month

The undersecretary of the Yemeni Foreign Ministry, Ghaleb Ali Gamil, said that the international arbitration committee charged with settling a dispute between Yemen and Eritrea over possession of Henish island delayed issuing its final decision because it needed more time to examine the information presented in the dispute and to check on facts.

In press statements today he said the delay came as the committee's decision, not as a request from either of the two conflicting parties. The judgment in the dispute is expected to be issued during a period that will not exceed four weeks from the postponement date of May 22.

He said the current dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia "is an internal affair, yet Yemen, which always wishes peace and security for the whole area, sees that war in any dispute will not be for the good of anyone, and that is confirmed by our resorting to the International Court of Justice concerning Eritrea's occupation of Henish Island, otherwise we would have entered an endless war."