Remaining POWs freed

Eritrea released 279 remaining Ethiopian prisoners of war (POWs) on Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed. In a statement, it said ICRC delegates in Eritrea accompanied the prisoners to a crossing point on the Mereb river between the Eritrean town of Adi Kwala and Rama on the Ethiopian side. They were met by ICRC staff in Ethiopia, who handed them over to the Ethiopian authorities. "With this release operation, the last prisoners of war registered and regularly visited by the ICRC in Eritrea have been released and repatriated," the statement said. "Pending individual cases of presumed or alleged prisoners not visited by the ICRC will be followed up as required with the Eritrean authorities." Both Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to release the remaining prisoners during a recent visit to the countries by the ICRC president, Jakob Kellenberger. The repatriation process - stipulated in the 2000 Algiers peace deal, which put an end to their two-year border war - had been held up due to differences between the two governments. There have been off and on POW-exchanges between both countries over the last few years. The ICRC said that since the 2000 peace agreement, up to 997 Ethiopian and 937 Eritrean POWs had been repatriated under ICRC auspices. Last week, an Eritrean foreign ministry communique stated that all remaining POWs would be repatriated under ICRC auspices on 29 August. "We have always upheld our commitments and one of these was the exchange of POWs," Eritrea's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Teweldemedhin Tesfamariam, told IRIN. "We are fulfilling our part of the bargain," he said. "We expect the same on the Ethiopian side, but they have been dragging their feet, citing this and that reason. I hope they see the light finally and respond to the release of the prisoners." No date has yet been set for Ethiopia to release an estimated 1,300 Eritrean prisoners of war and some 300 civilian internees, registered by the ICRC. ICRC spokesman Juan Martinez told IRIN that "various modalities" were being discussed with the Ethiopian authorities. "There are very specific procedures and it takes time," he said.