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Eritrea Claims Ethiopia Gearing Up For War |
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 03 November 2007 |
NAIROBI (AFP)--Eritrea accused Saturday its arch-enemy Ethiopia of "preparing to launch another war," adding to growing concerns the Horn of Africa neighbors may return to fighting over their disputed border.
Tensions are growing between the two countries which have been at odds since a 1998-2000 bloody border conflict in which some 70,000 died, many in brutal First World War-style trench warfare.
"The (Ethiopian) regime is preparing to launch another war against Eritrea," the state run Eritrea Profile newspaper said Saturday.
The government mouthpiece claimed the information came from five Ethiopian army deserters it said had defected across the dangerous frontier, where border guards are reportedly said to shoot those crossing on sight.
The soldiers said that Ethiopian army commanders were holding "secret meetings on the preparations for war" but gave no further details, the newspaper added.
The report follows accusations last Saturday by Eritrea that Ethiopia would attack "in the first week of November" with the "blessing of the U.S. administration," a claim rejected by Addis Ababa.
While the border remains tense, there have been no new reported developments in the past week.
The exchanges are the latest in a string of heated remarks between the two countries, which have choked efforts to implement a 2000 peace deal.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last month called on both sides to show the " utmost restraint" following "shooting incidents", and analysts continue to voice concern that the border dispute could once again flare into a full-fledged conflict.
Both sides have been flexing muscles and exchanging increasingly bitter rhetoric ahead of the expected closure of a UN-appointed border panel later this month.
The disputed frontier will then be fixed on maps, with the panel complaining that uncompromising stances on both sides have prevented it from physically demarcating the border on the ground.
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| Suggestion for Correction to AFP: That the border remains volatile and that invasion by Ethipia is prepared is due to the rejection of the Final And Binding Decision by the Ethiopian Minority Regime from Tigray from the beginning. Eritrea has accepted everything what is needed for demarcation. Furthermore Eritrea has exercised enough patience. It has been more than 5 years that the Final and Binding Decision was made and more than 4 years have passed that dermarcation of the border should have been finalized. We from Biddho.com believe 5 years is too much for Woyane. | | Conclusion of the Meeting of 7 September 2007 with EEBC:
If the Parties did not agree to conclude the demarcation themselves or allow the Commission to do so by the end of November, the boundary would automatically stand as demarcated, along the line specified in the Annex to the Statement of 27 November 2006, and the Commission’s mandate would thus be fulfilled.
the effect of the Commission’s Statement of 27 November 2006 is that the demarcation by coordinates identifying with precision the locations where pillars should be in place will become effective at the end of November unless in the interval the Parties act so as to produce a new situation.
Read here the Original full Report of EEBC in Black&White: >> Eritrea - Ethiopia Boundary Commission - 25th Report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations | |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 November 2007 )
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