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Ethiopian minister says granting
Badme to Eritrea would not bring lasting peace Addis Ababa, 7 October: Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin met and held
talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as well as with UN's permanent
envoys of Germany, France, and UK as well as with senior officials of Libya's
Foreign Affairs Ministry. The press release the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent to Ethiopian
News Agency later on Tuesday [7 October] quoted Seyoum as saying during the
meetings that Ethiopia had achieved success in averting humanitarian
catastrophe posed by the current drought. Seyoum told the top officials of the UN and the reported countries
that the international community had played a very crucial role in helping
Ethiopia avert what could have been huge loss of lives and commended donor
countries and organizations for the assistance they have provided to his
country. The Ethiopian foreign minister held separate discussions with UN
special envoys of Germany Gunter Pleuger, French Jean-Marc de la'sabliere, UK
Sir Emyr Jones Parry and the Libya's senior foreign affairs official
Abd-al-Rahman Muhammad Shalghem. Seyoum during the separate meetings with the senior officials of the
UN and the special envoys had talks on the Ethiopia-Eritrea boundary affairs
as well as on bilateral and international issues. He told Kofi Annan and the UN special envoys of Ethiopia's firm
conviction for durable peace as well as of the country's strong desire to see
the sustainable and justifiable consummation of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border
issues once and for all. The placing of Badme in Eritrea not only violates international laws
and conventions, but would not in any way bring about sustainable peace. Thus
Ethiopia opposes to the decision of the UN Boundary Commission, as it would
lead to further complication of the issue, as well as owing to Ethiopia's huge
responsibilities and roles in the maintenance of peace and stability to the
region as a whole, Seyoum noted during his meetings. Publication date: 2003-10-08 |