From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Jul 30 2005 - 01:04:34 EDT
AFRICA/DJIBOUTI - UN confirms emergency situation caused by tensions on
the Djibouti-Eritrea border
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The situation on the Djibouti-Eritrean border
remains volatile after a flaring of tensions on the border in June left
over 35 dead and dozens wounded (see Fides 12/6/2008). This is what has
been reported by the United Nations fact-finding mission surveying the
area.
In early June serious clashes were reported between the armed forces of
Djibouti and Eritrea along the undemarcated border between the two Horn
of Africa countries in an area known as Doumeira. The armed combat
followed several weeks of military build-up and growing tension between
the two sides.
The UN team also noted that Eritrea refused to receive the UN
fact-finding mission, and consequently only Djibouti's version of events
was made available to them.
"If not addressed in a timely and comprehensive manner, the
Djibouti-Eritrea issue could have a major negative impact on the entire
region and the wider international community," the report stated. The UN
experts say that Djibouti is making a costly military effort to face
this situation that threatens peace in the region.
"The possible destabilization of Djibouti and the militarization of the
Bab el-Mandeb Strait [connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and a
strategic link to the Mediterranean] do not augur well for peace in the
region or for international shipping and investment. Solutions must
therefore be found as a matter of the utmost priority."
The UN should persuade Eritrea and Djibouti to demilitarize the border
and return to the "status quo ante as at February," according to the
report.
The fact-finding mission also drew attention to the need for both
parties to agree on which of the colonial treaties and protocols should
be accepted as the basis for defining their common border - the 1897
Abyssinia-France treaty, the 1900-1901 France-Italy protocols, or the
1935 France-Italy treaty.
"It is tragic that the two countries have been on the verge of war over
treaties and protocols negotiated when they did not exist as independent
States," the report concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 19/9/2008)
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=17438
<http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=17438&lan=eng>
&lan=eng