Gov't says shuttle diplomacy can't change border ruling

Eritrea has said "shuttle diplomacy" cannot change the final and binding nature of the independent ruling on its border with Ethiopia. Presidential spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel told IRIN his country would not be "susceptible" to diplomatic shuttling between Eritrea and Ethiopia in a bid to resolve the impasse in the peace process. He was reacting to the appointment of a UN special envoy for Eritrea and Ethiopia who, according to diplomatic sources, has been named as the former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy. The peace process has been deadlocked since Ethiopia rejected the border decision by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), which is based in The Hague. Ethiopia is unhappy over the ruling, which places the village of Badme - flashpoint of the bitter two-year border war - in Eritrea. Addis Ababa has described the Commission as "null and void" and called for dialogue to try and resolve the issue. But Eritrea says there can be no dialogue until the border has been fully demarcated in keeping with the ruling. Both sides agreed in the Algiers peace accord of December 2000 that the decision - which was issued in April 2002 - would be final and binding. Currently, the only forum where the two countries meet face to face are the Military Coordination Commission (MCC) meetings, held under the auspices of the UN. At the last MCC meeting on 15 December in Nairobi, Eritrea's representative Brigadier General Abrahaley Kifle noted that the "many recent visits" by diplomats and politicians "complicated the peace process, as the only solution lay through the EEBC mechanism".