Government dismisses calls for sea outlet

The Ethiopian government has dismissed calls by an opposition party for an outlet to the sea via the Eritrean ports. On Sunday, 3,000 supporters of the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) held a rally in Addis Ababa, demanding access to the sea as part of the awaited boundary commission ruling on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The demonstrators said the country would never have lasting peace without access to the Red Sea. The EDP also demanded that the United Nations allow Ethiopians to hold a referendum on the boundary before a final decision is made. Lidetu Ayalew, the EDP general-secretary, said the new border would be "unjust and will not bring a genuine and lasting peace". The international Boundary Commission at The Hague is expected to announce its decision later this month as part of the Algiers peace agreement signed between the two countries in December 2000 after a two-year border war. Both Eritrea and Ethiopia have agreed to respect the results of the commission which are final and binding. The Ethiopian foreign ministry dismissed the EDP rally, stressing that the issue of having a sea outlet was "settled when Eritrea gained independence in a referendum in 1993". "Nurturing the idea of waging war with Eritrea in search of a sea outlet would not serve any purpose other than creating another 30 years of war," the ministry said in a statement.