29 September 2008

Mr. President,

My delegation has attentively listened to the blatant and meaningless accusation raised by the distinguished Foreign Minister of Eritrea against my country. And, in the exercise of our right of reply, I wish to state the following to straighten up the record.

Ethiopia rejects the Eritrean imaginary claim of sovereign territory occupied by Ethiopia. In fact, on the contrary, it is the belligerent regime in Asmara that declared an unwarranted war of aggression against Yemen, against the Sudan, against Ethiopia, and now against Djibouti. It is now Eritrea occupying Djibouti's territory. We believe that the continued silence of the international community in categorically deploring such behavior has only resulted in further emboldening the regime in Asmara. They must be told 'enough is enough' to their rogue politics.

The cause of all this, Mr. President, is the total absence of institutions in Asmara. In Eritrea today there is only a one-man show, where accountability is unheard of. The one-man is the president; he is the government, he is the state, and he is the country itself. Eritrea is the only country in Africa today which is not ruled let alone a constitution, but a mere presidential decree. It is a country ruled by an absolute dictatorship in whose solitary empire the term election, leave alone the institution of election is a culpable derogation. It is a country thrown into the abyss of an unfortunate isolation by the very acts and conducts of its ruthless regime.

Mr President,

To make the record straight, Ethiopia is in Somalia not as an invading force, but at the invitation of the Transitional Federal Institutions in Somalia: that is, the Government and the Parliament. Ethiopia is, therefore, a force of stabilization; not destabilization, as Eritrea is. It is rather Eritrea which is hosting regional and international terrorists whose names are still to be found in the consolidated list of terrorists documented with the United Nations Security Council. Eritrea is directly supporting and collaborating with the terrorists and spoilers of Somalia.

I wish therefore to stress that Ethiopia once again urges the international community, to call a spade a 'spade'; that the conduct of the regime in Asmara is unacceptable to the civilized world.

Mr. President,

It is clear that Eritrea has taken a strategic decision; it is not prepared to discuss any normalization of relations or indeed to co-exist with Ethiopia and countries of the region. We are the target of continued effort to destabilization activities authored and perpetrated by the regime in Eritrea.

Eritrea's trouble with all its neighbors does not essentially emanate from any legitimate disagreement over boundary; but rather from the troublesome character of its own government.

The persistent belligerence of the Eritrean Government towards all its neighbors (Yemen, the Sudan and Ethiopia) and, now, its recent invasion of Djibouti demonstrates its unacceptable rogue conduct in our sub-region.

Mr. President,

Allow me to reiterate to this august Assembly that Ethiopia agrees with the constantly affirmed view of the United Nations Security Council that the primary responsibility for the resolution of the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea rests entirely with themselves. Eritrea should realize that solutions for the boundary or any other differences can only be found by the two parties in a peaceful manner. Ethiopia remains firmly committed to the principle that dialogue is the only way forward to settle all outstanding issues with Eritrea. Eritrea must unequivocally understand that the options of violence are non-starter at all. Its leaders must but resort to peaceful means of resolving whatever differences they may have with their neighbors.

Eritrea should weigh the long-term interest of the peoples of the two countries rather than wickedly working for some imaginary, short-sighted and short-lived objectives.

I thank you!

Desalegn Alemu,
Acting Director General,
International Organizations Directorate General,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ethiopia

Is this a surprise for you...?
The question now should be how many times should we allow, tolerate this Woyane Pendulum of post Haile Selasse and Mengistu Regime in Ethiopia...??? If it is not occuppation what is it, a permanent friendly residence on Eritrean sovereign territory..???  If Eritreans, the world expect you "zigging" you should "zig" and not "zigzagging" anymore... (A GAME IS OVER by Military, by RULE OF LAW, by International Arbitration, by PEACE, by Diplomacy and by Tolerance) No, No, No Thank you for invitation to a new crisis, NO MORE WAAAAR - Comply, move out TPLF....!!! More than 120000 Ethiopians died for your bloody-minded adventures... (Is this not enough...). Let alone how many YOU have killed of our beloved ones....!!!

>> Flashback: The WOYANE Pendulum

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