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Ethiopia: Border ruling will have
dangerous effects on regional peace - premier Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said apart from pursuing a legal and
peaceful way to get the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission correct the
mistake it made, the Ethiopian government will not use any force. In an annual performance report he presented to the Council of the
House of Representatives today, the prime minister said the mistake made by
the boundary commission will have very dangerous repercussions to achieving a
sustainable peace in the region. Shibeshi Tsegaye has the details. [Passage
omitted] [Shibeshi] According to Prime Minister Meles, another issue that was
given priority this year by the government and people was the border
demarcation. In this regard, Mr Meles said the Ethiopian government was
forced to voice its strong opposition to the decision that awarded Badme to
Eritrea, and to the partisan tendencies demonstrated by the boundary
commission. Prime Minister Meles said the Ethiopian government strongly opposed
the recent clarifications made by the boundary commission not because it lost
territory. In fact, generally, the prime minister said, Ethiopia was given
large swaths of land it did not occupy before the war. However, he said,
since the government's aim was to ensure the demarcation was carried out in a
just and legal manner, the government strongly opposed the decision made
regarding Badme and its environs as very unjust and illegal. He added that
apart from pursuing a legal and peaceful manner to persuade the commission to
correct its mistakes, the Ethiopian government will not use any force.
[Passage omitted] Publication date: 2003-07-04 |