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Annan says Ethiopia-Eritrea war is over

    NAIROBI

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday that as far as he was concerned, the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea was now over, and expressed confidence that the planned signing of the peace agreement in Algiers would go ahead on 12 December. Speaking in Addis Ababa after talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the Secretary-General said: “I have been very, very encouraged by this visit. As far as I am concerned, the war is over. The agreement will be signed on the 12th and we then have to concentrate on the question of reconstruction and economic and social development,” according to an unofficial transcript issued by the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). “I think this is a positive story, a great story for Africa and I am really happy that we are ending the year with a story of peace.”

    Meles, for his part, told Ethiopian radio that after gaining its sovereign territories by military means, his country had declared that the war was over. He said his Council of Ministers and the House of People’s Representatives were going to discuss the peace package and that he was confident that this would be the final stage of the whole process. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Democratic Front, EPRDF, said the peace package was beneficial to Ethiopia, official Ethiopian Radio said on Thursday.
    According to the broadcast, the EPRDF said the package was “designed in such a way that the border demarcation would be implemented in accordance with the agreements singed between Ethiopia and Italy, the country that had administered Eritrea under her colony”. Demarcation has been the main issue of continued contention, diplomatic sources told IRIN.

    Speaking earlier after a meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, Annan said UN peacekeepers had started to deploy and would be working with both sides on the border demarcation. He added that the UN mission did not intend to “linger” and would withdraw as soon as its work was done. Some 4,200 UN peacekeepers and military observers are being deployed in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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