From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Feb 10 2009 - 04:40:49 EST
Bringing lasting peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia
Tuesday 10 February 2009 04:13.
By Ibrahim A Ibrahim
February 9, 2009 - When Eritrea and Ethiopia signed the Algiers peace
agreement in 2000 it was supposed to end the war and bring lasting
peace. The agreement had a mechanism to resolve the dispute permanently.
The spirit and content of the agreement was to unconditionally implement
the court ruling.
The regime in Addis Ababa's fear for its power make it even more
complicated than it should be. Obeying the orders of the former
administration's state department's African affairs personnel, have
become part of the regimes immediate task to further complicate the
situation. That include the invasion of sovereign nation Somalia, which
was about to bring peace and harmony to its citizens after such long
suffer following the fall of Siad Barre. In return the former assistant
secretary of state for African affairs has worked diligently to defame
Eritrea. That includes the enlisting to the infamous list of State
sponsors of terrorism. Thanks to the truth and reality Eritrea exonerate
itself from such evil acts intended to harm her.
The lingering acceptance by the regime in Ethiopia to the court ruling
and virtual demarcation, have no impact in the finality of the border
issue itself, except that it is still occupying a sovereign land of
Eritrea, and is still the case did not come to be part of past history.
Now that the new African Union chair person wants to utilize his
influence to bring this long lasting case to an end is a step forward.
It is the same organization that is chairing now is partially to be
blamed for not carrying its responsibility as expected.
The solution however is simple. Implementing the ruling unconditionally,
and facilitate physical demarcation. If that is the case there will be
no hesitation the other party involved will move swiftly for the benefit
of the peoples of both countries. Issues of normalization of bilateral
relations can be addressed immediately right after the demarcation. The
core obstacle here is the regime in Addis Ababa does not have the
political will. As a token of good will and first step Ethiopia have to
accept the virtual demarcation and declare it legally binding and vacate
the lands it occupy. By doing so, it will be manageable to proceed
forward.
If the new AU chairperson is trying to come with other mechanics to
satisfy one or the other party, it is a recipe for failure as no one is
above the rule of law. With this the ball is on the side of Ethiopia,
and only Ethiopia has to come forward with good intention if lasting
peace is to be garnered.
It has to be understandable that the regime in Ethiopia is sitting in
the lands that belong to sovereign nation, and there will be no peace
while occupying lands belong to Eritrea.
* The author is the Former Bank of Eritrea Administrator currently
resides in United States of America. He can be reached at
Ibrahim_Ibrahim@experienceworks.org
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article30119
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----