Official condemns any refusal to accept border ruling

An Ethiopian official has stated that refusal to accept a ruling on the border with Eritrea, due later this month, will amount to "lawlessness". Tsegaye Bekele, deputy director-general in the foreign ministry's legal services department, said the border issue could only be resolved through colonial treaties and agreements "for Eritrea was created by colonialists", Ethiopian radio reported on Tuesday. An independent Boundary Commission in The Hague is due to deliver its verdict on border delimitation between the two countries on 13 April. Both sides have accepted that the ruling will be "final and binding". "When we accept Eritrea's existence, the border demarcation should be based on the colonial treaties and agreements," Tsegaye was quoted as saying. He added that the decision could not harm Ethiopia's interests as Addis Ababa had "properly presented" its case in The Hague. "Refusal to accept the forthcoming decision would be characterised as lawless and would draw considerable pressure from the international community and the UN Security Council," he stated. Campaigns by Ethiopian opposition parties calling for the Eritrean port city of Assab to be included in the border arbitration were the parties' personal views and were "improper and far from the facts", he said. "The Assab issue was not the cause of the war between the two countries, thus the current case does not include Assab." Ethiopia's information ministry on Monday accused some opposition groups of "mendacious propaganda" in trying to drag the country into another round of war. "Seeking a peaceful and lasting solution to the Ethio-Eritrean border demarcation based on fundamental principles is the only option on the ground to bring about sustainable economic development in the country," the ministry said in a statement. "The idea being spearheaded by some extremist groups to drag the country into another round of war is unacceptable by any standard." "Any attempt to solve the border issue by imposing the interests of the other party devoid of established international norms could lead the country to an endless conflict," the statement warned. "The country can be relieved of its economic problems only by avoiding internal and external warmongering tendencies and taking measures that can guarantee sustainable development." Eritrea, for its part, said the opposition Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) was harbouring a "pipedream of annexing Assab". A commentary by the official Shaebia website also accused the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of "dithering between two contradictory poles". But, it added, "both the Ethiopian government and its opponents are acutely aware now that they stand to lose more if they do not abide by the colonial treaties". "Ethiopia will never be able to retain the Ogaden if it openly challenges the sanctity of colonial boundaries with regard to Eritrea," Shaebia said. Ethiopia and Eritrea went to war over a border dispute in 1998 and the ensuing two-year conflict resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. A peace agreement was finally signed in Algiers in December 2000.