Cowen urges Eritrea to have border dispute talks

ERITREA: An EU delegation headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, spent 1½ hours with Eritrea's President Isaias…

ERITREA: An EU delegation headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, spent 1½ hours with Eritrea's President Isaias Afworki yesterday in Asmara, the Eritrean capital, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, in Addis Ababa

It urged him to adopt a more conciliatory approach in his country's border dispute with Ethiopia, and to meet the UN's Special Envoy, Dr Lloyd Axworthy.

Border issues were at the heart of the conflict which erupted between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998. There were almost 200,000 casualties before a peace agreement, signed in Algiers in December 2000, brought an end to hostilities.

A border commission set up under the Algiers peace agreement placed the town of Badme inside Eritrean territory. Having initially accepted the commission's findings, Ethiopia began to voice objections early last year and, as a result, demarcation of the border between the two countries is effectively suspended.

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Tensions rose further when Ethiopia proposed to the UN that an alternative mechanism be established to deal with disputed areas along the proposed border, while suggesting that demarcation could start in non-disputed areas.

Eritrea was incensed, and insisted that the entire border should be demarcated at the same time.

As the situation deteriorated, the UN secretary general, Mr Kofi Annan, appointed former Canadian foreign minister Dr Lloyd Axworthy as his Special Envoy to resolve the dispute.

The Ethiopian government met Dr Axworthy last February, but so far the Eritrean government has refused to meet him.

The population of Eritrea is four million, as against 70 million in Ethiopia.

The Eritrean government is believed to view a meeting with Dr Axworthy as a sign of weakness, and it is understood that at yesterday's meeting President Isaias sought clarification on the Special Envoy's precise mandate.

Whereas Eritrea would have to cede substantial areas of territory to Ethiopia under the Algiers agreement, the town of Badme has considerable symbolic significance since the war began in a dispute over this town.

At a news conference after the meeting, Mr Cowen, speaking on behalf of Ireland's European presidency, said there had been a "very constructive" discussion with Mr Isaias, but declined to go into detail until he had first of all reported on the meeting to Mr Annan and Dr Axworthy.

He said the EU was "clear" in its policy that the border commission's decisions must be implemented, and was "disappointed" that this had not taken place.

He said the EU welcomed the appointment of Dr Axworthy as Special Envoy with a remit to see how the parties could be encouraged to implement the agreement.

When it was put to him that Eritrea felt the international community had not exerted sufficient pressure on Ethiopia in the dispute, Mr Cowen said the EU wished to see the border commission's decisions implemented.

The EU also wanted to see the Special Envoy interacting with the Eritrean government, and this would not constitute a change of position by Eritrea.

Noting there was an absence of trust between the two countries, the Minister said he was now "more confident" about the prospects of making progress.

However, he said the EU was a "witness" to the Algiers agreement, not a guarantor.

Mr Cowen was accompanied by the Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation, Ms Agnes Van Ardenne, and Mr Roger Moore, from the European Commission.

Later, Mr Cowen travelled on from Asmara, capital of Eritrea, to Ethiopia, but flew via Sudan instead of directly over the border for security reasons. Today he is due to meet the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr Meles Zenawi, in a further attempt at mediation.

Mr Meles and President Isaias, both of whom come from the Tigray border region, formerly enjoyed a close friendship which helped to ensure good relations between the two countries when Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

However, relations deteriorated into war in 1998. When there was a cessation of hostilities two years later, the Security Council established the UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) to monitor the peace.

Over 200 Irish troops served with UNMEE from 2001 to 2003. Ireland also contributed $50,000 to the boundary commission.