From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Jun 09 2010 - 12:06:34 EDT
Publish Date: Wednesday,9 June, 2010, at 07:01 PM Doha Time
France supports Qatar mediation between Djibouti, Eritrea
France is ready to support Qatar’s bid to end a border dispute between
Djibouti and Eritrea that last sparked a flare-up in fighting in 2008,
President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday.
Sarkozy welcomed an agreement between Eritrea and Djibouti, which hosts
France’s largest foreign military base, to seek a mediation from Qatar,
saying it would restore “calmer relations” between the two neighbours.
The president “wishes them success in their mediation effort to which
France is ready to lend its full support”, said a statement from the
presidential press office.
Qatar said on Monday that Eritrean troops had withdrawn from an area they
controlled in Djibouti as a result of Doha’s mediation bid.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin
Jabor al-Thani was quoted by official QNA news as saying that Eritrea had
already conducted “a withdrawal from disputed border areas”, a move verified
by a Qatari observer force.
The Qatari mediation provides for the formation of a committee, headed by
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, which is empowered to appoint an international firm
to demarcate the border, with Eritrea and Djibouti’s consent, QNA said.
The Qatari observation force is tasked with monitoring the border between
the two countries “until the conclusion of a final agreement on settling the
conflict”, QNA reported.
The force, made up of about 20 soldiers, arrived in Djibouti on Friday,
according to Djibouti press reports.
Meanwhile, African Union chief executive Jean Ping has praised Eritrea and
Djibouti Tuesday for agreeing to mediation by Qatar. Ping said the deal
could boost peace efforts in the region. AFP
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