Border ruling ambiguous, Ethiopia says

Ethiopia has said the independent border ruling of 13 April is ambiguous and contains errors, and has therefore called for "interpretation, correction and consultation" regarding the decision. The Ethiopian document of 13 May was released last week. An Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman told IRIN the decision was taken to publicise the document "for the sake of transparency". The document says the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), which issued the ruling in The Hague, had made mistakes in identifying the confluence of key rivers, used to mark out the new border. The 21-page document also said Eritrea had been awarded territory it did not claim. "The government of Ethiopia requests that the Commission be consistent in applying its analysis of the conduct of the parties to accommodate areas lying along the boundary, which the evidence demonstrates have been consistently administered by Ethiopia," the document stated. "The Commission will, thereby, minimise the dislocation of the large numbers of people living in the towns and villages in question." Both Ethiopia and Eritrea claim they have been awarded the village of Badme - where the border war flared up in 1998. Ethiopia was furious when the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) took journalists to the tiny village using Eritrean visas. The move prompted Ethiopia to close the border to UNMEE for a week and impose new security checks on UN peacekeepers. The Ethiopian document was handed in to the EEBC on the very last day of the 30-day period during which the parties could seek clarification. The document also called for clarification of the “outer edge” of Zalambessa – the town itself was awarded to Ethiopia under the ruling. And it said the description of the boundary in Irob was "somewhat ambiguous". "No change of governmental administration in the boundary region should take place until after the demarcation is completed," the document added. Ethiopia currently administers the disputed Badme area. Eritrea has dismissed the document as the "latest ploy" by Ethiopia "to undermine the border ruling". "This is a veiled attempt at an appeal, when they know full well that the ruling is final and binding," Eritrea's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Teweldemedhin Tesfamariam, told IRIN. "They are leaving no stone unturned to delay implementation of the demarcation phase." [Click here for full document]