UN led-effort to salvage peace talks

In a bid to salvage the protracted peace talks between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a UN Security Council delegation arrived in Asmara, Eritrea on Tuesday from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The delegation’s aim was to “urge strongly both parties to refrain from resorting to force and further hostilities, and to commit immediately, seriously and without preconditions to negotiations”. Led by US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke, the delegation had held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Monday night. No details of the discussions would be released until the mission had been completed, according to press reports.

“Proximity talks” between the warring countries in Algeria - where diplomats shuttled between foreign minister-led delegations in separate rooms - collapsed without breakthrough on Friday, 5 May. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin called the talks “a very frustrating experience” where the basis of the discussion should have been “improvements on the technical arrangements” rather than signing existing documents or establishing a ceasefire. Prime Minster Meles Zenawi was reported by state news agencies as saying on Monday that the war should “end quickly”. Ethiopia could not wait indefinitely for the international community to bring about a peaceful solution to the two year conflict, AFP quoted him as saying. Eritrean foreign affairs officials said, for their part, that “signature of the documents and a ceasefire agreement at the start of the talks” were “vital steps”.