22/11/06 (B370) BBC Comme nous l’annonçions depuis des semaines, la tension monte dans la Corne de l’Afrique, non seulement en Somalie, mais aussi entre Erythrée et Ethiopie, qui rejettent aujourd’hui le plan concernant la délimitation de leurs frontières communes (Info lectrice en Anglais).

Horn
rivals reject border plans

Dusty Badme was at the centre of the border dispute Ethiopia and Eritrea have
rejected a proposal put forward by an independent boundary commission to demarcate
their disputed Horn of Africa border.

Both countries
boycotted a meeting at The Hague, which was to discuss plans to mark the border
on UN maps rather than delineate it on the ground.

An Ethiopia
spokesman said the planned demarcation would be "illegal", while
Eritrea wants a physical demarcation.

The commission
was set up following the end of the countries’ 1998-2000 war.

Ethiopia
has never accepted the boundary commission’s decision to award the disputed
town of Badme to Eritrea.

TENSE
BORDER
Dec 2000: Peace agreement
Apr 2002: Border ruling
Mar 2003: Ethiopian complaint over Badme rejected
Sep 2003: Ethiopia asks for new ruling
Feb 2005: UN concern at military build-up
Oct 2005: Eritrea restricts peacekeepers’ activities
Nov 2005: UN sanctions threat if no compliance with 2000 deal

Q&A:
Horn’s bitter war
Tensions remain high and some fear conflict could reignite as the two countries
are accused of backing rival sides in neighbouring Somali.

Eritrea
backs the commission’s proposals but insists that the border should be physically
marked out.

"Eritrea’s
position is very clear: we have accepted the decision," Yemane Gebremeskel,
the director of Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki’s office told the AFP news
agency.

"If
Ethiopia obstructs the demarcation, the answer does not lie in accommodating
or placating Ethiopia," he said. "The answer lies in taking appropriate
measures against them."

"Ethiopia
has informed the commission that its proposal, if implemented, would result
in a decision void of any legal force or effect and therefore must be rejected,"
said a statement from Ethiopia’s foreign ministry.

The United
Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (Unmee) has more than 2,000 troops
in a buffer zone along the border.

Eritrea
has placed restrictions on the UN operation since last year, calling for more
international pressure to make Ethiopia withdraw from Badme.

More than
70,000 people died in the border conflict.