Hague meeting to "set the pace" for peace process

Ethiopia and Eritrea are to meet at a key summit which should “set the pace” for the peace process, the United Nations said on Friday.

The two countries, which fought a bitter two-year war, are due to meet in The Hague later this month where the crucial border ruling over their disputed boundary was first announced.

The conference at the Ethio-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) will aim to thrash out the complex physical demarcation of the 1,000-kilometre border. It is the second time Ethiopia and Eritrea have met in The Hague since the border decision was announced on 13 April.

The acting spokeswoman for the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Gail Bindley Taylor-Sainte, told a news conference the meeting on 16 July was "very important".

“[It] will probably set the pace for whatever happens in this next phase,” she said. Sainte added that UNMEE was awaiting the outcome of the high-level talks to determine its role in the demarcation process.

The demarcation of the border is highly technical. UNMEE will be demining areas where border posts will be placed marking out the boundary. The area has already been photographed from the air and maps are being drawn up and are expected to be complete by August.

Sainte also confirmed that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had met both the Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi and Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki in Rome during the UN World Food Summit last month.

She said Isayas had commended UNMEE for its role in the peace process. She also said UNMEE had launched six “outreach centres” to help inform the public in both Ethiopia and Eritrea of the mission's work.