Border ruling vindicates Eritrea, Asmara says

Eritrea has said the ruling on delimitation of its border with Ethiopia is a vindication for Asmara and a victory for both peoples.

A government statement, faxed to IRIN on Sunday, said both sides accepted that the decision would be final and binding when they signed the Algiers peace accord of December 2000. "Hence the question of acceptance of the decision is superfluous and does not require belaboured commentary and verbal acrobatics," the statement said.

An independent Boundary Commission, established under the terms of the Algiers peace agreement, issued its ruling on the border between the two countries on Saturday. The two sides fought a bitter two-year war, triggered by a border dispute in May 1998.

Ethiopia was quick to pronounce victory after the ruling, stating it had retained all the territories under its administration including the villages of Badme and Zalambessa where some of the heaviest fighting took place.

But in its statement, the Eritrean government retorted that "as to the question of in whose favour the decision went, the determination and its implications provide clear answers".

"The flowery and bombastic statements that were issued today [Saturday] cannot erase from our collective memories the statements and actions of the past four years. Nor can we forget that Badme, which was included in the map of Tigray [issued by the Ethiopian authorities in 1997], was used as a pretext for Ethiopia's declaration of war."

The statement said Eritrea had "consistently maintained that the border dispute could only be resolved by peaceful and legal means". "Today's determination by the Border Commission has reaffirmed what was clear four years ago and has vindicated Eritrea," it said.

The statement went on to say that "learned commentary" was not needed "to clarify in whose favour the decision went and the Ethiopian people are best placed to give their judgement".

"In the final analysis, the end of the war on the basis of a legal determination is a victory for both the Eritrean and Ethiopian peoples. It is a victory for the people of Ethiopia, but it is the Eritrean people who have emerged most victorious," the statement said.