In one of its firmest actions yet on the stalemated peace process, the Security Council had on 24 November 2005 passed the Resolution giving the parties until midnight 23 December 2005 to withdraw any redeployed troops back to the 16 December 2004 levels. It had also demanded that Eritrea rescind its helicopter flight ban and other restrictions on UNMEE, and that Ethiopia should unconditionally take steps to enable demarcation by the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC).

In his report following the lapse of the deadline, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan informed the Security Council that excepting a pullback of Ethiopian troops, the resolution had to a large measure been ignored. Forthwith, pundits expected the Council to slap sanctions on both parties. The Council, though, appraised matters from a different perspective when it discussed Annan's report last 9 January.

In effect, managing the border dispute and, in particular, the crisis facing UNMEE is a balancing act that requires all stakeholders to proceed with caution, avoiding as much as possible any rash or precipitated action. Actually, the Security Council has all along maintained a guarded approach, as was indicated by the Chairman of its Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations, Ambassador Kenzo Oshima of Japan, when he visited the Mission area last 7-9 November on a fact-finding trip.

"The issues involved are rather delicate and complex in nature, and they have to be handled skillfully, with great care and good judgment," Oshima had declared at a press encounter in Addis Ababa, adding: "That's what the Security Council intends to do."

To be sure, this explains why rather than resort to coercive action, the Security Council opted to give diplomacy a chance, particularly after the United States disclosed plans - in the words of State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack - to try to "re-energise progress towards finding a lasting solution to the border conflict."

In his report to the Security Council, Secretary General Kofi Annan had proposed six options in the light of operational risks and difficulties UNMEE was facing because of the protracted stalemate, including frictions with the authorities in Asmara, notably the helicopter flight ban and, more recently, the expulsion of personnel of certain nationalities.

The options included transforming UNMEE into an Observer Mission, a Liaison Mission, or a Political Mission. As yet another alternative, Annan also suggested the deployment of a preventive force south of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). In the most radical of the options, he intimated that the Mission could be entirely withdrawn.

But the Secretary General also envisaged maintaining the status quo with a view to buying time "for diplomatic initiatives to unblock the stalemate."

It was therefore not surprising that the idea drew applause from across the board when Ambassador John Bolton of the United States told the Security Council that Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer and Retired General Carlton Fulford, Director of the African Centre for Strategic Studies will lead efforts by Washington to resolve the border impasse.

"I informed the Council that the United States was prepared to undertake an initiative to see if we could move forward on the demarcation process," Bolton told journalists, at the close of deliberations on the Secretary-General's report last 9 January. "I think that this is, as in many diplomatic efforts, [seizing] the moment, the opportunity. We are hoping this is the right moment and the right opportunity," he said.

Commenting on the US move, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno was unequivocal about the rationale in treading the path of diplomacy.

"What was clear in the Council is that there is a sense of urgency, of crisis; that this is not business as usual because obviously the status quo is unsustainable," Guehenno told a news conference following the Security Council meeting on UNMEE. "At the same time, there is also a recognition that one should not rush to precipitous decisions; that everything has to be done to avoid increasing the risk on the front line between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and so time has to be given for diplomacy," he pointed out.

Guehenno welcomed the American initiative. "The United States has solid relations with the two countries, so it certainly has the clout, the credibility to move the process forward," he reckoned, adding: "It's very important that ... the window that is open not be shut and that every effort be made to take advantage of this diplomatic engagement to move the process forward."

A US delegation led by the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs eventually arrived in Addis Ababa on 19 January. Dr Jendayi Frazer held discussions that same day with top UNMEE officials, including SRSG Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, in the Ethiopian capital. She later traveled to the border for a firsthand appraisal of the situation on the ground. At UNMEE's Sector Centre Headquarters in Adigrat (Ethiopia), the American delegation was briefed by the Deputy Force Commander, Brig Gen Abraham Wambugu and the Sector Commander, Col Srinivasan Vijay Bhaskar. The delegation also visited the border towns of Axum, Zalambessa, Shiraro and Badme.

Remarks to the Press on Ethiopia and Eritrea

Ambassador Bolton: Let’s get started. This morning in the Security Council we had a discussion of the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea and what might be the next steps. I reported to the Council that the United States for some time of course has felt that what we should be doing is focus on the underlying political dispute between Ethiopian and Eritrea. And that is to say beginning the demarcation, that is to say the boundary, that had been decided upon by the Boundary Commission that the parties had agreed to in 2000 in the Algiers Agreement. Today I informed the Council that the United States was prepared to undertake an initiative to see if we can move forward on the demarcation process. And Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer will be traveling to the region with General Carlton Fulford and others to discuss how to begin implementation of the demarcation process. I made it clear to the Council there were no promises, no guarantees, I didn’t want to overstate what we were undertaking, we were proceeding realistically here, but we felt that this kind of diplomatic initiative could bring movement on the underlying political dispute. Accordingly, in order to give some space for this diplomatic initiative and in order not to send any signals, politically or otherwise, that might complicate it, I asked that we preserve the status quo on the UNMEE force disposition. I know the Secretary General had proposed six options in his most recent report, and essentially what we asked is if we could simply freeze the status quo for 30 days while our initiative proceeded. I said that we were certainly prepared to consider a meeting of the Algiers witnesses, of the governments and the EU that had witnessed the 2000 Algiers accord, and that I would be pleased to keep the Security Council informed of progress. What will happen at that point, obviously we’re not in a position to predict, but we did feel that this initiative by the United States was the best way to proceed at the moment to address the basic political issue and dispute.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: I don’t really have anything new to say at this point on behalf of either of the parties. I think now we need to let the initiative play out over the next 30 days and we’ll see what happens at that point. As I said a moment ago, I don’t want to overstate this, I don’t want any spin, I don’t want any excessive expectations raised. We’re going to take this with seriousness, but the issue of getting to the demarcation has been held up almost four years now. It’s obviously not an easy undertaking, but we felt we were in the best position to try and deal with it.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: I think the circumstances that we face now with the Eritrean restrictions on UNMEE’s operations obviously bring this to a critical point; and the involvement of the United States has the prospect of possibly getting forward momentum. But we’re not in the prediction business at this point. It’s a serious, diplomatic effort and we’ll see what happens. Mr. President, if you want to have a word.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: Well, we have certainly heard all of these requests. And it’s our conclusion that this is the appropriate time to do it. As I said a moment ago, we do have a particularly difficult situation with the UNMEE deployment at the moment. But I think we also are close to four years after the decision of the Boundary Commission. And the intention that we have had, and this has been expressed over the past several months, is that we need to address the underlying political problem, not simply the peacekeeping operation itself to make sure that the peacekeeping operation does become a part of the problem. And I think this is what Assistant Secretary Frazer is going to try and do. And I was pleased at the reaction in the Council, as Ambassador Mahiga will confirm, I think there was widespread support for it. So I think that’s another positive aspect of today’s initiative that hopefully gives the mission some wings as it starts out.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: We don’t have a date.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: Sorry, I’d really like to confine my comments here to the Ethiopia/Eritrea situation if I could.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: We’re bringing Assistant Secretary Frazer, who is a very effective diplomat and General Fulford, who’s quite knowledgeable about the border and the demarcation process. As I say, I think as in many diplomatic efforts picking the moment, picking the opportunity, we’re hoping this is the right moment and the right opportunity.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: Well, I think we want to move toward demarcation of the boundary. As I’ve said before, and as we’ve said in other public statements, the issue there is one that goes to the question of the parties’ fundamental agreement of the Algiers Accords of 2000. If they’re both still serious about that, if they’re both committed to what they agreed to in 2000, then we should go forward with demarcation. That’s what we’re going to try and do. This is assessments of how we got to this point, which I think we can probably leave in history. I think what we want to see is demarcation accomplished and the dispute resolved.

 The United States says it is sending a high-level team to Ethiopia and Eritrea to try to solve their long-running border dispute.

US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton presented the initiative to the UN Security Council.

He said the team of diplomats and military officials would spend 30 days trying to resolve the disagreement.

Last month, Eritrea ordered western UN peacekeepers to leave the buffer zone, amid fears of a renewed conflict.

UN peacekeeping head Jean-Marie Guehenno, who recently travelled to both countries, said the US had "the clout, the credibility to move the process forward".

US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Jendayi Frazer is to head the mission, which is to travel to the region next week, Mr Bolton said.

But BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says the key is the presence of a retired general, Carlton Fulford, in the team.

Mr Plaut says this is the last chance for the peace process but he fears it is unlikely to succeed, as neither side seems willing to make the necessary compromise.

Sanctions threat

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported back this month to the Security Council on resolution 1640, which carries the threat of sanctions against both countries if they do not withdraw troops they had sent to the border. He presented them with six options from leaving things as they are to pulling out.

The two neighbours fought a costly border war from 1997 to 2000, which ended with a peace agreement committing both sides to abide by the ruling of an independent commission which demarcated the boundary.

However, Ethiopia has not withdrawn its troops from the disputed border town of Badme, which the commission awarded to Eritrea.

Eritrea wants the international community to put more pressure on Ethiopia to comply with the ruling.

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, 2006 (AFP) - A planned US diplomatic mission to ease border tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia is still on despite a cool reception by the Asmara government, the State Department said Thursday.

It said Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer and retired Marine General Carlton Fulford were sticking to their plans to visit Asmara and Addis Ababa in the coming days.

"Assistant Secretary Frazer still thinks that this is an important issue and it's certainly worth her time and involvement," said Julie Reside, a State Department spokeswoman.

She spoke after a statement published Thursday on the website of the Eritrean information ministry cast doubt on the "legality" and "political relevance" of the US mission.

It said it would welcome only those initiatives that forced its arch-rival neighbor Ethiopia to accept a binding 2002 border demarcation that resulted from a peace deal ending their 1998-2000 war.

Ethiopia has demanded revisions to the border ruling by an international panel that it had previously accepted as part of efforts to end the conflict that cost some 80,000 lives.

Reside said Washington backed "the position of both Eritrea and Ethiopia on the final and binding nature of the (border) decision that the parties stated prior to the decision's announcement."

She said the Frazer mission demonstrated the US commitment to the boundary commission ruling and "seeks to jumpstart efforts toward demarcation of the border."

The planned US mediation came as the UN Security Council mulled the future of its peacekeeping troops on the border who have been severely hampered by restrictions slapped on them by Eritrea.

A senior US official expressed renewed concern over the curbs on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), including a ban on helicopter flights and the expulsion of UNMEE's North American and European personnel.

The official, who asked not to be named, shrugged off Eritrean skepticism over the Frazer mission. "I think that Jendayi is still looking to go out there and would expect the cooperation of the Eritrean government," he said.

Details of Frazer's itinerary were not immediately available.

pm/jjc 

US leverage with Ethiopia key to Eritrea border row
15 January 2006, 05:00 CST

By C. Bryson Hull

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States is throwing its geopolitical might into breaking the Eritrea-Ethiopia border deadlock but analysts say its only hope is to persuade Addis Ababa to fully accept the deal that ended a murderous war between the Horn of Africa neighbors.

Washington is sending a delegation to the region this week to try to end a years-long stalemate between the countries, so divided over the enactment of a legally binding mapping of their common border that some fear a new war could start.

Diplomacy in the sense of brokering a deal will not cut tensions, analysts say, because Eritrea insists the border is a clear-cut matter of law where compromise has no place.

Only persuading Ethiopia to follow a ruling that awarded a disputed town to Eritrea will solve the dispute.

"The Americans have to deliver something on the Ethiopian side to be credible, and that is Ethiopia accepting the border decision," said Princeton Lyman, a former U.S. ambassador to South Africa and Nigeria, who also worked in Ethiopia.

In a pact to end a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people, Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to accept an independent commission's mapping of the frontier.

The commission gave a disputed town to Eritrea. But Ethiopia refused the ruling, branding it unfair because it would separate Ethiopians from their farmland.

Eritrea has repeatedly said a deal is a deal and that the international community -- especially the United Nations -- had failed miserably in enforcing it.

It has rejected any efforts at diplomacy, including Ethiopia's offer in late 2004 to accept the deal after new dialogue.

"Eritrea has made this extremely difficult to deal with. It's not that their position is wrong, but their tactics are terrible. They feel everyone is against them," said Lyman, now senior fellow for African policy at the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

Trying to force action, Eritrea last year cranked up its rhetoric, ejected Western personnel from the U.N. peacekeeping mission, restricted U.N. troop movements and banned helicopter flights over the buffer zone on the 1,000 km (620 mile) border.

INFLUENCING MELES

Where other diplomatic forays have failed, one thing may give Washington a foot in the door -- influence with Ethiopia.

"The U.S. has been fairly clear on indicating that Ethiopia must accept the binding arbitration. On the record, they don't disagree with Eritrea," said David Shinn, a professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.

But the United States "has not been overly pushy because it obviously has other interests and concerns in the area," he added.

Though militarily superior, Ethiopia is the top U.S. counter-terrorism partner in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea controls a key stretch of coastline and also has good relations with Sudanese rebels groups in the east, west and south.

That is valuable for the United States in terms of solving the Darfur crisis in Sudan's west, keeping the year-old south Sudan peace deal alive and forestalling new fighting in the east, analysts said.

Where the United States may have been reluctant to push Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi too hard before, raised fears of war in the Horn and the prospect that the U.N. peacekeeping mission could fail has prompted action.

"Clearly the danger that is there has sunk in. And there is a perceived -- and quite correctly perceived -- need to do something about it," Tom Cargill, an Africa expert with the London-based Chatham House think-tank.

MORE WELCOME

Washington's leverage over Ethiopia is a promise to help Meles deal with a turbulent political situation at home and to persuade European donors to give back $375 million in aid they withheld over an opposition crackdown last year, Lyman said.

"I do think the Eritreans are going to hold to this very stubborn line, but the Americans can get Meles to move," he said.

The U.S. mission, headed by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, has already been given more of a welcome by Eritrea than the last high-level diplomatic effort.

Eritrea's Information Ministry in an editorial on its Web site on Wednesday said Eritrea would welcome "initiatives that are focused at bringing about an appropriate resolution to the fundamental issue."

But the editorial said Eritrea would not accept "other 'diplomatic' efforts" that would bypass the legally binding decision.

"Diplomacy doesn't fit very well alongside international law in the sense that you can't tinker with international law, a binding decision, because it would undermine every other decision," said Martin Pratt, research director at the University of Durham's International Boundaries Research Unit.

That was the lesson Eritrea tried to impart to U.N. Special Envoy Lloyd Axworthy, sent in late 2003 to break the impasse.

By the end of his term in August 2005, the former Canadian foreign minister had never even met the Eritrean leadership, which suspected he might try to circumvent the border ruling.

Doubts surround a proposed US mission to Eritrea, to discuss the border dispute which it is feared could start a new conflict with Ethiopia. President Isaias Afewerki has refused to allow the team of diplomats and army officials to visit the border area.

But Eritrean officials have not ruled out the possibility of the US delegation coming to the country.

Eritrea has said the first step to peace must be Ethiopian compliance with an international border ruling in 2002.

Last month, Eritrea ordered United Nations peacekeepers from Western states to leave the buffer zone.

On Wednesday, Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said a "high-level" Eritrean delegation had met US officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs Jendayi Frazer, in Washington on Monday and discussed "substantive issues".

Ms Frazer was expected to lead the proposed US mission to the Horn of Africa.

On Tuesday, a senior US State Department official told Reuters news agency: "The schedule is in flux. She is working out the details."

If Ms Frazer does not go to Eritrea, she is expected to begin her mission in Ethiopia, including a visit to the Ethiopian side of the border.

Some observers saw the US mission as the last opportunity to resolve the dispute, which led to a costly war between 1997 and 2000.

A senior Eritrean diplomat told the BBC that allowing the US to engage in shuttle diplomacy could be seen to undermine the 2002 ruling, which was final and binding.

American clout

The UN Security Council is considering scaling down the peacekeeping force which currently separates thousands of troops from the two countries who are deployed close to the border, raising fears of renewed conflict.

Earlier, UN peacekeeping head Jean-Marie Guehenno, who recently travelled to both countries, said the US had "the clout, the credibility to move the process forward".

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported back this month to the Security Council on resolution 1640, which carries the threat of sanctions against both countries if they do not withdraw troops they had sent to the border.

He presented them with six options, from leaving things as they are to pulling out.

The 1997-2000 war which ended with a peace agreement committing both sides to abide by the ruling of an independent commission which demarcated the boundary.

However, Ethiopia has not withdrawn its troops from the disputed border town of Badme, which the commission awarded to Eritrea.

Eritrea wants the international community to put more pressure on Ethiopia to comply with the ruling.

(WASHINGTON) — The Eritrean authorities have denied two U.S. diplomats permission to visit an Eritrean border area that is the object of a simmering dispute with neighboring Ethiopia, a State Department official said Wednesday.

Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer and retired Marine Gen. Carlton Fulford had to settle for an inspection of the border area from the Ethiopian side, the official said, asking not to be identified.

Eritrea is insisting on Ethiopian acceptance of a 2002 binding border demarcation resulting from a peace deal that ended their bloody 1998-2000 war. It opposes any reopening of negotiations on the subject.

The Eritreans indicated last week that they had strong reservations about the U.S. mission but Frazer responded by telling reporters on Friday that she anticipated no problems, noting that the Eritreans had granted her a visa.

She said the United States supports implementation of the 2002 boundary decision. Frazer added that she thought a visit to the area would provide her with a better understanding of the issues involved.

US delegation in Ethiopia to seek end to Eritrea border dispute
Jan 19, 2006, 15:06 GMT

Addis Ababa - A high-level US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Fraser arrived in Ethiopia on Thursday to help seek a solution to the Ethiopian- Eritrean border dispute, now going on for almost four years.

The delegation's mission has the blessing of the UN Security Council, as the US diplomatic initiative seeks to try to clear the way for marking the disputed border.

Officials are concerned that the dispute might lead to renewed conflict between the two countries, which had fought a costly war between 1998 and 2000, claiming about 70,000 lives from both sides.

Eritrea has already snubbed the American delegation by refusing to facilitate the travel of the delegation to the disputed border area within its territory.

The delegation is expected to meet Friday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. A further member of the delegation is retired US Marines Gen. Carlton Fulford, who now directs the African Center for Strategic Studies for Pentagon.

Fraser and her party had to cancel for the time being their planned visit to Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, and instead flew to Addis Ababa to launch their mission.

Ethiopia has so far rejected as 'unfair and unjust' the binding decision of April 2002 of The Hague-based International Boundary Commission on the border demarcation.

Addis Ababa specifically is against the commission having awarded to Eritrea the key town of Badme, the flashpoint of the 1998-2000 border conflict.

Eritrea snubs US mission
18/01/2006 08:10  - (SA)  

Washington - A planned US diplomatic mission to ease border tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia is on hold amid a report that Asmara was refusing to receive the delegation, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

The BBC reported on its website that Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki had refused to allow the US delegation, led by assistant secretary of state for African affairs Jendayi Frazer, into his country.

There was no immediate word on whether Frazer was scrapping her planned effort to help resolve Eritrea's boundary dispute with Ethiopia left over from a peace deal struck to end their 1998-2000 war.

"The schedule is still in flux," said a senior state department official, who asked not to be named. He could not confirm that Afewerki had barred Frazer from Eritrea but said she had her visa to enter the country.

"Assistant secretary Frazer intends to visit the border region but the final details of the itinerary are still being worked out," the US official said.

Eritrea had last week expressed its misgivings about the mission by Frazer, who was to have been accompanied by Marine General Carlton Fulford on visits to Asmara and Addis Ababa.

The Eritrean information ministry doubted the "legality" and "political relevance" of the mission and said Asmara would welcome only those initiatives that forced Ethiopia to accept a 2002 border ruling.

Ethiopia has demanded revisions to the border demarcation decided by an international panel that Addis Ababa had previously accepted as part of efforts to end the conflict that cost some 80 000 lives.

The planned US mediation came as the UN Security Council mulled the future of its peacekeeping troops on the border who have been severely hampered by restrictions slapped on them by Eritrea.

Frazer flew to Africa with First Lady Laura Bush to attend the inauguration on Monday of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

---