From `legal nonsense´ to  `legal fiction´. This are strong Signals for End Times of the Woyane Regime in Ethiopia. Read here latest Statements from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
A Week in the Horn of Africa (18/01/2008) 

The Government of Ethiopia has reiterated its dismissal of the controversial ‘virtual’ demarcation of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border. This idea was first announced by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission in November 2006 which said this would come into operation at the end of November last year, failing any other progress in implementing demarcation on the ground. When the Commission dissolved itself on December 1st, it left behind its ‘virtual’ demarcation, a paper demarcation with no legal force or effect, contrary to international law and practice, and in violation of the object and purpose of the Algiers Agreements, and of the mandate of the Commission itself. In a statement yesterday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman described ‘virtual’ demarcation as a legal nonsense. It is neither valid nor acceptable in international law. Border demarcation requires lines drawn on the ground and pillars posted as the mandate of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission prescribes. Ethiopia made these points clear to the Commission when it first produced the concept in November 2006. Ethiopia has repeatedly made clear its full acceptance of the Delimitation Decisions of 13 April 2002 as binding on both sides. It is equally clear that it cannot accept the Commission’s Statement of 27 November 2006 as equally binding.

The Foreign Ministry’s statement came after Eritrea said it had accepted the ‘virtual’ demarcation of the border as announced by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission at the end of November. A statement published in an Eritrean government newspaper on Wednesday says that “after five years of revolving around the basic problem, the matter has finally been resolved through a virtual demarcation of the border”. The statement said Eritrea would pursue legal measures to evict Ethiopian soldiers from territory awarded to Eritrea under the 2002 Delimitation Decisions, but that if these “do not result in the appropriate outcome then the Eritrean people have other internationally approved choices”. The statement did not specify what these might be. In a letter to the President of the Security Council on January 15, President Issayas said that “the matter has now come to conclusion. The boundary is demarcated . In the event UNMEE has now been left, after five and half years, with no option other than ‘maintaining occupation’. My Government accordingly urges the Security Council to compel the evacuation of the army and institutions of the Ethiopian regime that are occupying our sovereign territories to prevent other unnecessary developments.” Again, he did not elaborate.

In light of these implied threats, many on the Security Council believe it would be appropriate for the UN Security Council to extend the mandate of the UN Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) for a further period. UNMEE’s current mandate runs out at the end of the month. UNMEE monitors the Temporary Security Zone set up to divide the two armies at the end of the war which began in May 1998 when Eritrea invaded Ethiopia. In the last three years, its operations have been seriously compromised by restrictions imposed by the Eritrean government. Eritrea has similarly violated the Algiers Agreements, which ended the war in December 2000, by the continuous dispatch of substantial military forces into the demilitarized Temporary Security Zone over the last couple of years. As noted, Ethiopia has consistently made clear its full acceptance of the Delimitation Decisions of April 2002 and its complete commitment to the demarcation of the border according to international norms and practices. Demarcation, however, cannot proceed while Eritrea fails to accept its obligations and restore the full integrity of the Algiers Agreements, and refuses to hold any dialogue over the exact placement of pillars and boundary markers. Ethiopia notified Eritrea last year of the legal and political options it has available should Eritrea continue to violate the integrity of the Algiers Agreements.

Meanwhile, the Eritrean government organized a demonstration on Wednesday outside the offices of the British Prime Minister, at 10 Downing Street. Despite claims by the organizers that demonstrators were from all over the Horn, most were Eritreans, though they did include representatives of several Eritrean-supported Ethiopian opposition groups, including the Ogaden National Liberation front and the Oromo Liberation Front, both now based in Asmara. The demonstrators demanded that the US and UK governments stopped co-operating with the Government of Ethiopia, a somewhat surprising demand since Eritrea supports, arms, and finances a dozen or so opposition movements from Ethiopia, as well as others from Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti, all involved in armed struggle or terrorist activity. While demonstrators claimed they had some 600 on the demonstration, British police counted the number as just over 100. The Eritrean government now appears to be shifting a significant part of its anti-Ethiopian efforts into media activity and the organizing of similar demonstrations in Europe and the United States.

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