From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Mon Aug 31 2009 - 13:46:39 EDT
AU special summit: Ethiopia-Eritrea border row tops debate
By Kennedy Abwao, PANA Correspondent
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - African leaders who gathered in the Libyan
capital, Trip oli, Monday, for a special summit on the resolution of
conflicts plaguing the continent, have appealed to Ethiopia to pro ceed
with the demarcation of its border with Eritrea to end one of the
longest-running border rows in Africa.
The Special Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and
Government Assem bly, holding here ahead of Tuesdayâ?s 40th anniversary
celebrations of the Libyan Revolution, also expressed concern over the
failure of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), to
sign a peace deal with the government.
Speaking at the opening of the summit, AU Chairman Muammar Kadhafi
warned that t he border crisis between Eritrea and Ethiopia was a
time-bomb that the continent needed to tackle, as it had degenera ted
into an armed conflict and was a threat to regional stability.
Eritrea and Ethiopia had appealed to the AU not to put the border
conflict betwe en them on the agenda of the special summit on resolving
conflicts in the continent.
But the Libyan leader said the AU had a right to work towards resolving
the cris is between the two states.
â?We have asked Ethiopia to continue to the next step of border
demarcation in a peaceful way because this issue may be a time bomb,â?
the Libyan leader said.
AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping told the meeting the Commission was
concerne d about the lack of progress on the Eritrean border crisis, as
well as . the lingering Eritrean-Djibouti border row.
Ethiopia has been calling for negotiations with Eritrea over the border
town of Badme, which an international panel led by the UN awarded to
Eritrea after the 2000 border conflict.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration, based at the Hague, The Netherlands,
ruled m id August 2009 that the Eritreans had to pay more to Ethiopia
for the 1998-2000 border fighting, which killed 70,000 people.
Kadhafi said although African states were not obliged to intervene on
some confl icts if they were entirely of internal nature, the continent
could not afford to stand aside as they deteriorated.
The AU Chairman said although the situation had remained calm,
indicating that t here was no need for alarm on the conflict, the
continued impasse was a time-bomb that needed an immediate resolution.
â?There is a border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The situation
is cal m and there is nothing to draw our attentionâ¦but unfortunately,
there was an armed conflict between the two countries,â? he said .
African leaders, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, are
attending the two-day meeting, which has been dedicated to examining the
role of the AU in the resolution of the conflicts.
Kadhafi said the foreign interests in Africa was aggravating the
conflicts in Af ricaâ?s oil and mineral rich states.
The Libyan leader said the Western governments had tried to instigate a
similar crisis in Libya, but had failed to find an immediate scapegoat
to go to war in Libya over the countryâ?s vast mineral wealth.
He said while African states were struggling under immense poverty as a
result o f conflicts, the foreign governments were planning in advance
of 100 years, on how to use their vast military power to con trol the
oil and mineral wealth in Africa, while pretending to seek for
solutions.
â?The foreign intervention to the crises in Africa has aggravated the
situation . The developed states are not looking for peace in Africa.
They have 100-year plans on how to use their military force to benefit
from Afri ca,â? Kadhafi told fellow African leaders.
Tripoli - 31/08/2009
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