Ethiopia accused of trying to scupper border hearings

Eritrea on Monday rejected accusations by Ethiopia that it is mobilising troops in the buffer zone between the two countries, and that it is providing support to the Somali radical Islamic group Al-Ittihad. The claims were made by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin at a press conference in Addis Ababa on Friday. According to Ethiopian radio, he said Eritrea was violating the Algiers peace agreement by deploying its regular army "in the name of police and militia" in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). He acknowledged there were no skirmishes along the border, but said these "destructive acts" were "tantamount to preparations for another provocation". The radio said he warned that Ethiopia would "take its own action to defend its sovereignty" unless international guarantees were given for implementation of the Algiers agreement. The allegations were dismissed by Eritrea's deputy ambassador in Nairobi, Temedhin Temariam. He told IRIN that Eritrea had not mobilised troops in the TSZ under the guise of police and militia. "We have no reason to do this," he said. "We are counting on legal ways of solving the border conflict which are underway at The Hague. This is to the benefit of both Ethiopia and Eritrea." Last week, the two countries submitted their cases for border demarcation and delimitation to the Boundary Commission at the International Court in The Hague. The hearings are scheduled to last until 21 December. During the press conference, the Ethiopian foreign minister also claimed Eritrea was providing military support to "international terrorist groups such as Al-Ittihad-al-Islamiyah". He alleged that Eritrea had sent a group of nine military officers "who are advising and training terrorist groups bent upon creating instability and insecurity along Ethiopia's border region with Somalia". Rejecting the comments, Temedhin Temariam stressed that Eritrea "has nothing to do with Al-Ittihad ... We don't intervene in such things". "Eritrea's commitment against international fundamentalist terror is well-known to everyone including the Ethiopian government," he added. He accused Seyoum Mesfin of "trying to sabotage The Hague proceedings". "By making these unfounded accusations at this critical moment, he is trying to drag us back to conflict and rancour, and trying to undo everything that has been achieved by the international community in solving the problems between Ethiopia and Eritrea," Temedhin said. Following a two-year border war that broke out in 1998, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace deal in Algiers in December 2000 in which they agreed to respect the decisions of the boundary commission. The commission is due to give its verdict in February and the findings will be binding to both sides. Last week, the UN peacekeeping mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea, UNMEE, said the TSZ was calm and stable.