Government warns opposition against "playing with fire"

The Ethiopian government has again rejected calls by opposition parties to reclaim the Eritrean port of Assab, accusing them of "playing with fire". In a strongly-worded statement, issued on Monday, the information ministry said any attempt to take Assab would "undoubtedly jeopardise peace and stability" in the region. The statement is the latest in a series of verbal clashes between the government and opposition groups in the run-up to the border ruling by an independent Boundary Commission. The commission – which is based in The Hague – will announce on Saturday where the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea will lie. The information ministry's statement said the issue of Assab had been decided by the 1993 referendum in which Eritreans voted overwhelmingly for independence. To include Assab as part of Ethiopia would have "more of a devastating effect than to use it peacefully", the statement added. "Such a move cannot bring about peaceful and sustainable use of the port." "Those groups who have chosen to play with fire should come to understand that any such anti-democratic act cannot be tolerated in the new Ethiopia," the statement said. "If there are any parties who believe they could profit from havoc and instability, they should carefully determine the outcome prior to involving themselves in anarchic situations." Tensions ahead of the announcement have been increasing, with rallies by Ethiopian opposition parties, while United Nations peacekeepers have been put on high alert. On Monday the president of Ethiopia added his voice to criticism of the opposition parties. "You cannot claim something that is not yours and go to war," President Girma Woldegiorgis stated. He said Ethiopia was a landlocked country and the Boundary Commission ruling would not change that. "Therefore it would be better to graciously accept the ruling on the border demarcation." Last week, the opposition Ethiopian Democratic party (EDP) delivered a petition to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, saying Ethiopians would not accept an "unjust ruling which will make our country landlocked and deprive our people, such as Afars and Irobs, of their Ethiopian citizenship". In a statement, the EDP - which accuses Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of "working against the interests of Ethiopia" - said the petition contained 136,000 signatures.