Congressmen seek to limit US aid if border ruling not heeded

Ethiopia and Eritrea could face the threat of US sanctions on development and military aid if they fail to speed up implementation of the contested border ruling. Four congressmen have backed a bill in the House of Representatives urging the US to restrict support to both countries if they do not comply with the peace deal. In particular they have demanded that Ethiopia ends its “intransigence” in implementing the ruling by The Hague-based independent boundary commission. Democrat Tom Lantos lodged the bill in mid-July, supported by fellow democrats Donald Payne and Eliot Engel, and republican Edward Royce who chairs the international relations sub- committee on Africa. The bill has been referred to the International Relations committee. Ethiopia and Eritrea agreed, under the terms of the Algiers peace agreement signed in December 2000 after a bitter two-year war, to abide by an independent ruling on the border which would be "final and binding". But demarcation of the new border has now been delayed twice because Ethiopia is opposing the decision which has awarded contested territories to Eritrea. According to the congressmen, the 1998-2000 war claimed 100,000 lives, displaced one million people, cost Ethiopia more than US $2.9 billion and led to a 62 percent decline in food production in Eritrea. Regional analysts told IRIN that while the bill could take many months before it becomes law, it is a sign of growing impatience over the current stalemate. The bill, entitled the Resolution of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Dispute Act of 2003, says humanitarian aid and support in the fight against terrorism should continue. But, it argues, that aid to both countries should be limited if they do not take “significant steps” to comply with last year’s border ruling. “Congress further declares that it shall be the policy of the United States to limit United States assistance for Ethiopia or Eritrea if either such country is not in compliance with, or is not taking significant steps to comply with, the terms and conditions of the Algiers Agreements," the bill said. “Congress strongly condemns recent statements by senior Ethiopian officials criticising the Boundary Commission's decision and calls on the Government of Ethiopia to immediately end its intransigence and fully cooperate with the Commission,” it added.