Eritrea, Ethiopia to attend border talks in London

Aamara, Mar 10: Legal experts from Ethiopia and Eritrea flew to London today (Mar 10, 2006) for talks with international mediators to discuss demarcating their common border, officials said.

But Eritrea said it would only discuss implementation of a 2002 ruling made by an independent boundary commission charged with demarcating border.

''Our legal team will go today under the understanding that there will not be any tinkering with the substance of the decision or the process of implementing it,'' said Presidential Adviser, Yemane Ghebremeskel.

Ethiopia's minister for state in the foreign affairs ministry Tekeda Alemu said Addis Ababa had sent the acting head of its legal department to the talks, called by the commission.

''We have sent a delegation to participate in the meeting in good faith,'' Tekeda said.

Ethiopia and Eritrea agreed to demarcate their border after their 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people and abide by the decisions of the independent boundary commission. Ethiopia had rejected the ruling.

Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said that Lea Brilmayer, a U.S. lawyer who has advised Eritrea for 10 years, would lead the legal team.

''There will be no revisiting, renegotiating, or renewing (of the 2002 ruling),'' he said.

Ethiopia has said in the past that it wants to discuss the ruling before marking the border out, while Eritrea insists on strict implementation of the ruling before dialogue.

In February last year, the boundary commission invited the two countries to a similar meeting in London. But while Eritrea accepted the invitation, Ethiopia declined.

The boundary commission then closed its field offices in March, complaining about Ethiopia's obstructive actions since the summer of 2002.

Tensions have risen after Eritrea introduced a series of restrictions on U N peacekeepers including a ban on helicopter flights which have hampered the United Nations' ability to monitor the 1,000 km border.

Eritrea has repeatedly expressed frustration that the international community had not done enough to enforce Ethiopian compliance with the ruling.

The U N had been exploring changes to its peacekeeping mission following the Eritrean restrictions, but said on Wednesday it had postponed any changes while U S diplomats continued their efforts to end the stalemate.

REUTERS