webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2011
All rights reserved
From: Tesfahannes Beyene (araele@gawab.com)
Date: Sun Aug 14 2011 - 19:18:30 EDT
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE
PART TWO: BORDER DISPUTE BETWEEN ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA - WHAT DOES THE
FUTURE HOLD?
When Eritrea gained its independence in 1991, it had so many dignitaries
coming to Eritrea to pay their tribute to the people of Eritrea. One of
them was, the Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi. When he joined in the sermon
he came forward and delivered his inaugural speech with great care. In his
speech he chose his words very carefully and said, he was overjoyed for the
people of Eritrea, to achieve their independence through hard won struggle.
He also said, “don’t scratch your wounds as we feel the pain with you,
don’t feel the discomfort and suffering, as the war is now over” We will
work together hand in hand to make a new beginning, for the betterment of
the two nations. His message was quite euphoric, confident - that in
short, he said we will stand together come what may. Well, we were over the
moon, and happy for the two communities to live together in peace. The rest
of the world also paid its tribute and wished good health for the President
and the people of Eritrea. As far as I was concerned the relation with
Ethiopia and especially with the people of Tigrai was so unique and needed
to be boosted with deliberate intention to secure the well-being of the two
communities.
It should also be noted that over the years many Tigrian’s have been living
in Eritrea before and after independence. So it was a very convenient
situation to strengthen the relationship in many different ways. One way of
advancing the interest of the two countries was in setting up, political
and Economic Union-that could have led the two nations more closely to one
another. To do this, what needed to be done was simple - allow for instance
markets /shops to function freely on the border towns of the two countries,
allow the two people to develop free movement with minimum political
intervention, but with clear boundaries, and so the relationship could have
grown logically for better future.
I was also with the view that people living on either side of the border
could cross the border to meet the people on the other side for example at
Zalanbessa in Ethiopia or Senafe in Eritrea. The two communities could
meet once a year to have a kind of pilgrimage in this border towns, as we
do between Eritrean villages in a celebration known as Nigdet. This would
have brought them so close, so that the connection between the two people
can be translated into better understanding. To go with this, I was also
very mindful of what our grandfathers from the highlands, used to say that
“kab Tigray Zeiwiled Aiechwan” meaning you can’t be noble if you are not
related to the people of Tigray. In a way the saying was innocent and
harmless, at the time, everyone was happy to interpret the meaning of the
saying in practice. That nothing would separate us from being close
neighbours. After all had it not been for the Italians, who have excluded
the region of Tigrai from Eritrea, surely if the they wanted to bring the
two communities together, they could have done so, with the consent of the
people of Tigrai (Ethiopia) but it was not in their interest to do so at
the time. Instead they confined themselves strictly within Eritrea, and
left Tigrai in its place - Ethiopia. Of course if the Italians opted for
the alternative, we could have been one people, with one language, one
culture, marching together as one people. Who knows what could have been
the future of these two people, but this was the history of the 1880s.
In the 1970th during the war of liberation against the military ruler of
Ethiopia there was strong military cooperation between the Eritrean
People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) and the Tigrian Liberation Front (TPLF).
The EPLF were the dominant power of the Eritrean Revolution while the
Tigrians were receiving all the necessary military training, to enable them
to defeat the common enemy Mengistu Hailemariam of Ethiopia. The final show
down with the common enemy came in May 1991when the EPLF completely
liberated the whole of Eritrea and all pockets of resistance were
completely wiped out. The next thing to do was to assist the Tigrian
Liberation Front in their quest to clear up the Derg regime from Ethiopia.
It was at this point that the EPLF Mechanized Tank Brigade (MTB)
spearheaded south in military cooperation with TPLF towards the heart land
of Ethiopia - Addis Ababa. The dynamic of the Eritrean revolution and its
effect was complete in flying colours. Within a week of Eritreans
independence, the whole of Ethiopia including the capital Addis Abeba was,
liberated.
Eritrea free at last, the hard protracted war had finally came to an end
and the same thing happened in the rest of Ethiopia. From 1991-1998 it was
so wonderful that the people of Eritrea as well as the people of Ethiopia
had for the first time began to taste the sweetness of freedom and peace to
the full. Especially for Eritreans the doors of heaven opened, and the
skies turned blue from the dusty clouds of war. The nation began to rebuild
its shattered economy from the ashes, after 30 years of protracted war.
Ethiopia on the other hand did the same, freeing itself from the tyrant
regime of Mengistu Hailemariam, who then fled the country heading for exile
into Zimbabwe - emptying the treasury in his country. Things worked very
well until 1998 and Eritrea at this time should have asked for war
reparation for the scorched earth policy that Ethiopia has inflicted on the
people and property of Eritrea and hope this point is revisited again in
any future talks with the rulers of Ethiopia.
In any case the regime in Ethiopia buoyed by capturing the crown in their
country, with the cooperation of the Eritrean Tank Brigades, Mengistus
regime and the riff-raffs of his troops completely wiped out, from the
whole of Ethiopia - peace and tranquillity reigned over the two countries.
Immediately afterwards a minority government lead by Meles Zenawi was set
up in Ethiopia. Few years into power the minority government felt very
comfortable and had learnt the ins and outs of what it meant to be in
government. Very slowly they maintained a strong grip on power which in the
end gave them the confidence to exercise it in their own ways.
At this point in time we were very happy for them and everything was moving
in the right direction, until things began to evaporate rapidly when
skirmishes on the Eritrea border towns of Badme started. Using stealth
tactics, the Ethiopian troops on the border area began to push Eritrean
border lines causing inhabitants living in the area to abandon or - forced
them to flee to nearby villages in the area. The action Ethiopian troops
took was quite unprecedented, it was so sudden and it confirmed many
peoples suspicion -that the leadership of the minority government in
Ethiopia had other hidden agendas. That after eight years of a cosy
relationship, it began to get unpleasant. The harsh reality of politics was
there to be tested, in Eritrea’s backyard. Such a shocking twist of events
came out in the open and the honeymoon period among the two nations has now
vanished. Such a minute misunderstanding that could have easily been solved
- failed to materialize. The two sides easily came to blows with a minor
border dispute, which lead into a full-fledged war that became very
difficult to stop. At the time there, were quite a few Eritrean analysts
who had predicted that, the leadership of Weyane could not be trusted as
they were capable of pointing their guns on the people of Eritrea. Others
were also voicing similar concern that, the Tigrian leadership had greater
ambitions in setting up the Greater Republic of Tigrai, as it was clearly
displayed in their manifesto in the 70s. Therefore pushing the border
lines further, manifesto on sight, feeling ambitious and strong - how
ironic. Instead of defusing the situation, they applied their hidden
agenda by pushing the Eritrean-Ethiopian border deeper into Eritrean
territory. .
Frankly the leadership in Ethiopia were bubbling with confidence from
inside, thus the encroachment of Ethiopian troops, towards the Eritrean
side, continued unabated around the town of Badme and its surrounding
areas. One thing led to another and the first military exchange of fire
took place around the town. What was quite shocking and took everyone by
surprise, was the speed of the military engagement that developed in the
locality into a full scale war. The push and pull factors of the border
dispute went on fire, and no one thought such an accident or exchange of
fire could erupt into full-fledged war of border dispute. The war spread
like wild fire through other nearby towns on the border. At this moment in
time the only thing Eritrea can do is simple, to defend itself against
intruders. The border dispute took almost four years to end - causing so
much destruction especially on the side of Eritrea.
Describing the war dispute between the two countries, a British journalist
at the time said, the dispute was just like “two bald men fighting over a
comb”. His explanation was - the area is barren, it was not good for
grazing cows and goats, therefore war should have been avoided - at any
cost by settling the dispute peacefully. Nonetheless for Eritrea, whether
barren or a desert, Badme has been Eritrean historically, it has been
Eritrean when the Italians occupied Eritrea since 1886, has been Eritrean
under Ethiopian occupation, and was confirmed as Eritrean, by the UN
Eritrea/Ethiopia Boundary Commission. It cannot be understood, what
Ethiopia wants from Eritrea. One thing that needs to be remembered here is
that it is hoped, that the Ethiopian Premier brings the border dispute to
an end - as the two countries interests are intertwined in many ways. If he
failed to do so, I am sure his successors would do it with immediate
effect. In the meantime, the no war, no peace situation caused by
Ethiopians refusal to accept the UN Boundaries Commission Ruling is causing
economic distress for the people who live on both sides of the border.
The other big surprise about the border dispute for me was, once Ethiopian
troops took control of Badme as they attempted to head deep towards
Eritrea, they deliberately destroyed the area as they went. The proof was
there for everyone to see, that the Ethiopian Army crossed the Mereb River
to capture the whole of Eritrea in order to install a puppet regime similar
to that of Somalia. Why do Ethiopian troops cross Mereb? It was quite
incredible. There was no need for them to cross the Mereb River (Mereb is a
border that separats the two countries in the south) it was quite
outrageous, with an evil intention. By so doing they were aiming to
terrorize the whole of Eritrea, desecrating Eritrean martyr’s graves along
the way, demolishing, public buildings, hospitals schools, communication
centres, Churches and Mosques. Their intrusion into proper Eritrea was seen
by all Eritreans as unacceptable and was classed as a crime against
humanity. As such the question that was asked then was, do the people of
Eritrea deserve this from the very people that assisted them to claim the
crown in Ethiopia. It was very shocking; however, it became very clear to
the people of Eritrea, that the aim and objectives of the minority
government of Ethiopia was to overthrow the Eritrean government with the
blessing of Condoleezza Rise and Jandai Fraser (the bulldozers of politics
during the Bush administration). The two American politicians were advising
the Weyanes to go deep in to Eritrea, in the hope of a Regime change. In so
doing Eritrea could come ultimately under the influence of Ethiopia and the
United States. But due to the heroic, efforts of the people of Eritrea it
was foiled - it also taught Eritrea a lesson that she will never forget.
After Four years of heavy fighting on both sides, unbelievable destruction
on the side of Eritrea, a ceasefire was finally declared by the two
countries in the Alger’s Agreement of 2002. The Alger’s agreement became
the frame work of understanding between the two countries. As a result of
the agreement, President Isayas Afewerki of Eritrea, and Premier Meles
Zenawi of Ethiopia, signed in black and white to bring peace for the two
nations. The Alger’s agreement became final and binding treaty. Witnessed
by the International Community- Eritrea accepted the agreement in full
without ifs or buts. Ethiopia initially said she has accepted it, but when
the decision was made public she began to hesitate interpreting the
decision of the UN Boundary Commission, in her own way. In other words
Ethiopia tried very hard to dilute the meaning of the Alger’s agreement -
using different tactics. Sometime they were saying they have accepted them
in principle but reading between the lines, they were not keen to implement
it. Other times they were saying they need to have a dialogue with Eritrea
in order to carry out the agreement in practice. Their line of argument
were not good enough to convince anyone.
The main reason being, when Badme was declared Eritrean by the Border
Commission, Ethiopia was not happy with the verdict. She tried to justify
that Badme belongs to her and it required for the issue of Badme to be
discussed again and again. Up to the present day, Ethiopia has refused to
accept the UN Boundaries Commissions Ruling. As a result Ethiopia has
become an obstacle to peace and the border demarcation pillars have not
been placed physically, due to their refusal to cooperate with the UN
Group. For the UN to carry out their work to install the border pillars
they need the cooperation of the two countries, Eritrea and Ethiopia. The
latter has refused to give them the necessary guarantee to do their job. In
turn the UN Group informed the Security Council, about Ethiopians
non-compliance with the Alger’s agreement in placing the pillars. The UN
group unable to fulfil their job had to leave the border area without
completing their duty.
Immediately afterwards, the political manoeuvrings, from Ethiopia began to
spread, false rumours in order to confuse people, creating unnecessary
diversions from the main issue of demarcation. The aim was to delay the
demarcation as long as possible so that to keep the issue of demarcation in
a state of limbo, employing poppycock arguments to advance their cause. The
intrigues, and innuendos, that were applied following the Alger’s Agreement
in order to fundamentally change the fabric of the core agreement was,
preposterous. Ethiopia’s objectives were all along to alter the Alger’s
agreement with the help of the Americans who were in the driving seat of
the agreement. To achieve their goal. Ethiopia and the United States of
America had to send endless envoys, including the secretary general of the
UN. All of them came one after another on behalf of Ethiopia. The envoys
include Kofi Anan, Obasanjo of Nigeria, a Canadian envoy, Ban ki Moon.
They shuttled in turns trying to change the arithmetic of the Alger’s
agreement. It looks that all of them were not going to uphold the Law of
the International Community, but to twist it in a manner that dilutes the
agreement so that to favour Ethiopia. Eritrea quickly realised the secret
plot that was set against her, by these guys in their clandestine love
affair with Ethiopia, and stuck to its guns saying the UN Commission ruling
vis-a-vis the border dispute between the two countries is final and
binding. Therefore unmoved by the whole political drama, the virtual
delimitation clearly defined according to International Law, Eritrea
repeatedly said the law must take its natural course. What followed was
more confusing misinformation, purposely spreading by the Ethiopian
Government and its sympathisers. The arguments they put forward were quite
astonishing and this were as follows that:
(1)-Ethiopia wants to negotiate but, the line of demarcation crosses
Communities, Churches and Mosques, therefore there is a need for
negotiations
(2)- If Badme is left in Ethiopian hands, then Ethiopia can provide in
exchange of lands with Eritrea elsewhere.
(3)-That Ethiopia has accepted the UN Boundary Commissions decision in
principle but need to talk to Eritrea first.
(4)-Ethiopia is a big country, like a big mountain, and she is supported by
the biggest mountain of all the United States of America therefore Eritrea
needs to talk to Ethiopia.
(5)-Ethiopian sympathisers have also advanced another bizarre argument that
Ethiopian leadership has no problem with the Eritrean people, only with the
leadership in Asmara. Yes we have heard these arguments again and again.
Now let’s have a look at these arguments one by one:
Argument number one: assuming the line of demarcation splits communities,
churches and mosques in two, this is unfortunate but the two communities
could still have a relationship.? The simple reason is both Eritreans/
Tigreans on both sides of the border could go to church together, pray in
mosque together, the two communities could have developed a normal
relationship of peaceful coexistence, could remarry one another and have
festivities together, visit one another’s houses easily. This would have
created an atmosphere of good relations between the two communities. In
addition if the border splits towns or villages, obviously affected
inhabitants of the area could have been asked to choose whether to stay on
the Eritrean side thereby, governed by the Eritrean government or move to
the Ethiopian side to be governed by Ethiopia. For instance if the border
demarcation places some Tigrian villages inside Eritrea then they will have
the choice to stay inside Eritrea and governed by Eritrean flag and their
rights would have been protected like any Eritrean or if they chose to move
to the Ethiopian side of the border then the choice would have been
available for them.
Secondly: Ethiopia accepted the Border Commissions decision in principle,
but want to swap land with Eritrea - so that she can stay in Badme. The
problem with this argument is that if you exchange any land outside the
Alger’s agreement then it can be interpreted by expert lawyers as null and
void, the meaning of the agreement cannot be the same. Or in other words
Alger’s agreement would have lost its meaning. Give an inch you may be
asked to give a mile and perhaps endless exchanges. In addition Eritrea’s
principle is as clear as crystal, She does not want to give, what belongs
to her, nor does she want to take what is not hers
Thirdly: Ethiopia has accepted the UN Boundaries Commission decision, in
principle but need to talk. Eritrea has never refused to talk, it is
Ethiopia who is refusing to talk to Eritrea, placing certain preconditions,
and it is Ethiopia who is still sitting on sovereign Eritrean territory,
therefore, what is there to talk about? To be honest whatever the Ethiopian
Premier says I don’t believe a word of his lectures. If he is sincere
enough and wanted peace with Eritrea the answer is simple. Can the Right
Honourable gentleman stand up in front of his Parliament or tell the
International community to call the UN group to start placing the pillars
of demarcation and then Eritrea can talk about talks. Otherwise it is a
useless Public Relations (PR) exercise.
Fourth: Ethiopia is a big country, like a big mountain, and has allied
itself with the biggest mountain in the world (America) therefore Eritrea
need to talk to Ethiopia to resolve the border dispute. Quite frankly we
are very happy for them to lean to the biggest mountain; we respect them
for what they are and what they do in the interest of their country. If
joining a mountain can benefit their people it is their country and can do
what they like with it, however the consequence of joining the biggest
mountain especially nowadays is having its dynamic effect on those leaders
who blindly accept the interest of the United States while, ignoring the
interest of their own people. The consequence for African leaders including
the Ethiopian Premier, who blindly support the US are now stumbling one by
one and some of them have their planes ready on a standby to take them into
exile and Ethiopia may be next. Therefore as far as Eritrea is concerned,
she is not interested to lean on an Ethiopian mountain, she is not
interested to lean into an American mountain, she is only interested to
build her own mountain.
Therefore the choice is for Ethiopia to make peace with Eritrea and its
neighbours first, and as regards the border dispute is concerned, it is
nothing to do with being mountain or supported by a mountain. Obvious the
United States of America and Ethiopia are making relentless efforts to
frame Eritrea for any wrong doing from - Somalia to southern Sudan in order
to weaken its economy and isolate her politically and above all to prevent
the implementation of the Alger’s agreement. But the more the two countries
plot to blackmail, the government and the people of Eritrea, the latter
would double and triple their support to foil their absurd allegation that
cannot be substantiated in front of the law. Moreover the United States of
America is also deliberately blocking the implementation of the peace
treaty between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Otherwise the US or the UN could have
taken sanction, against Ethiopia’s refusal to abide by the Alger’s
Agreement, but they have refused to do so in order to appease Ethiopia – so
that the border dispute is left in limbo. This literally means, Meles is
being supported, pampered by, the Americans against the people of Eritrean
not to vacate sovereign Eritrean territory - in violation of International
Law. But whether supported by America (the biggest mountain) or not, Meles
ought to accept that the Border Commission’s Ruling is final and binding.
The final and lame duck argument that is pushed by the sympathizers of
Ethiopia is that, Meles has no quarrel with the people of Eritrea only with
the government of Asmara. This is one of the most ridiculous arguments I
have heard so far. If this is the view with the Ethiopian premier then what
he needs to do is simply apply what the French Ambassador to Ethiopia told
him in 2002. The French Ambassador at the time said Ethiopian must vacate
Badme and accept the Boundries Commission’s ruling- in return, the West
were prepared to give him 100 Million dollars to build another Badme on the
Ethiopian side of the border. The Ethiopian premier refused, because he
felt Badme is Ethiopian, even when the Court told him it is Eritrean. It
looks like the Ethiopian Premier is simply trying to become more Catholic
than the Pope himself. Badme today or tomorrow will remain Eritrean.
The other point that needs to be repeated here is that, Meles has no
quarrel with the people of Eritrea but with the Eritrean government, why
shouldn’t he then sign the agreement for the sake of the Eritrean people?
One has to remember that as human beings you may disagree with colleague’s,
friends and government leaders If he has no quarrel with the people of
Eritrea then I would like to suggest that the Ethiopian premier must be
brave enough to build a friendship road that goes from Tigray to the port
of Adullis, so that future generations of Eritreans and Tigrians can
develop it, as it can serve the two communities. But having observed the
Ethiopian premier when talking about Eritrea, having seen him using Eritrea
as a scape goat on many occasions, having seen him manipulating other
countries, the UN Security Council to push for sanction against Eritre –
when there isn’t a shred of evidence on the ground to believe what he is
saying against Eritrea. Surely all he is telling the world is black
propaganda to keep the Eritrean issue alive as rallying ground for his
supporters against the people of Eritrea and to drag Eritrean development
to the stone age-he will not succeed and will fall flat on his head like
his predecessors.
The whole idea of bringing the above mentioned useless arguments in
connection with the border dispute, instead of accepting Border Commissions
decision, is simply to hoodwink the International Community, and Eritrea,
into accepting Ethiopia’s desire. Eritrea has done her fair share to accept
what the International community demanded. What is not clearly understood
is that, what does Ethiopia and her friends want Eritrea to do? Wave a
white flag and beg for mercy from the Ethiopian leadership. That will not
happen; the law needs to take its course. Meanwhile while Eritreans are
engaged, day and night in developing their country, the Ethiopian Premier
is sending, mixed signals. On the one hand he has been claiming that we are
neighbours, brothers as we have so many things in common and, we need to
solve the issue peacefully. On the other hand, he is making bellicose
statement by alleging that Eritrea is engaged in trying to destabilize his
country. For instance he has been alleging lately, that, if a bomb explodes
in Mogadishu he will say it is Eritrea, if another bomb explodes in
Somaliland / southern Sudan he will say- it is Eritrea, if a bomb explodes
in Ethiopia, he will say it is Eritrea, if he has headache and wakes up at
unusual time in the morning he will say - it is Eritrea. Unknowingly the
Ethiopian premier seems to be singing the Eritrean National Anthem- Eritra,
Eritra Eritra. Even at the last African Union (AU) meeting in Addis he was
alleging, Eritrea was about to sabotage the conference. Is the right
honourable Gentleman, alleging that Eritrea wants to kill her ambassador at
the African Union Conference in Addis? To be frank he must release himself
from this siege mentality. In other words it looks like he is being
paranoid; that Eritrea is doing this and Eritrea is doing that. The right
honourable gentleman has boxed himself in a political quagmire that Eritrea
is responsible for all the ills in Ethiopia,it looks like the Ethiopian
premier requires, political baptism to rehabilitate him to his right mind
of thinking.
My personal view is the Ethiopian premier is using the Eritrean issue as a
diversion from the problems of his country. He seems to be obsessed by
Eritrea - even when the people of Tigrai and the rest of Ethiopia have been
telling him to vacate sovereign Eritrean territory for the interest of the
two nations. As far as Eritrea is concerned the border dispute is over once
and for all and is now concentrating on its economic development rather
than to talk about the border dispute, Working day and night to feed itself
without any support from any outside powers, so it is no wonder, the
successful policy of self - reliance that Eritrea is following is causing
the blood pressure of some countries to go higher and higher. It also
looks like our friend Meles Zenawi cannot stomach the development progress
that has been underscored in a peaceful Eritrea. I think he should leave
Eritrea alone and free himself from the siege mentality of Eritrea and get
on with the issues that need to be resolved. The border dispute between the
two countries is final and binding, he must accept reality and admit
Alger’s agreement is here to stay and it is not good to use Eritrea as a
scapegoat.
It has to be noted that border disputes are very common among neighbouring
countries, and there could be many different reasons why two nations, may
come into conflicts on their borders. For instance it could be water
dispute, mineral wealth, oil resources, border regions etc. These are some
of the main causes of conflicts, but they are resolved amicably or by a
third party.
In 1992, Nigeria had a similar border dispute with Cameroon, in the Bekassi
Peninsula, with the discovery of potential oil reserve, which made matters
worse. Then the dispute between, the two countries was brought to the world
attention after clashes in the area. In 2002 the International Court
decided that Nigeria vacates the land she inappropriately occupied and the
disputed territory was awarded back to Cameroon. Nigeria initially refused
to accept International Arbitration and occupied the land for many years.
After 12 years of occupation Nigeria decided to give in to common sense and
to listen to the International Community. Ethiopia will have no choice, but
to give Badme back to Eritrea now or later.. In the present time however
Eritrea will wait patiently until the time is right to get Badme back,
meanwhile Eritrea is engaged in developing the environs of Badme.
So the border dispute since it started is still in stalemate and it has
caused enormous damage to both Eritrea and Ethiopia. In the past Eritrea
may have been receiving about 100 million dollars per year from Ethiopia,
while the latter was given access to the ports of Assab and Massawa.
However, due to the hostilities, Ethiopia has been using the ports of other
countries Djibuti, Somalia, Kenya, these ports are further away and as a
result, they are more expensive, three to four times more than using
Eritrean ports. For these reasons the border dispute is hurting equally or
even worse to the people of Tigrai and the rest of Ethiopia on the whole.
Had this border dispute been resolved the Tigrean’s could even buy their
fresh fish from the port of Massawa or Addulis, cook them and eaten them on
the same day- in Zalambessa or Mekele, but with the border dispute still on
standoff everything is on hold. From the American and Ethiopian point of
view the main objective of the whole exercise is simply to weaken the
economy of Eritrea, but this will not happen as Eritreans in diaspora and
the people inside Eritrea are capable of footing the bill Ethiopia was
paying for using Eritrean Ports. Still Eritreans want to settle the dispute
with Ethiopia peacefully, but if Ethiopia is going to remain intransigent
towards the peace treaty, Eritrea will have no choice except to remain
vigil until the dispute is settled. As regards the use of Eritrean ports
are concerned, obviously it would have been better for the peace treaty to
be implemented so that Ethiopia can have access to Eritrean ports in line
with International Law, otherwise Eritrea will remain happy to harvest
fishes from its ports at the same time she will be more than happy to swim,
with heards of her Camels in its calm waters, until the time is right for
the two countries to establish good relations.
What need to be understood here is that, any dispute is resolved by
negotiations, and it has been almost thirteen years since this dispute came
to an end. Yet the status quo of no war no peace situation continues, what
future does this hold for the two countries. Well, I hope Ethiopia comes to
its senses and apply the inevitable, accepts the rule of the law because
the two countries are interweaved in so many aspect of their lives,
especially with the people of Tigrai. I hope the Right Honourable Gentleman
(Meles) will be the person who will bring the dispute to a positive
conclusion, otherwise Meles may not stay in power for long, and the next
election for him may be the last. Even if he survived by rigging the
election, the situation for him may be very difficult to govern. I would
like him to come to his sense and be remembered as a man who brought peace
in the interest of the two nations.
This brings me to say that, few years ago, I attended a sermon for an
Eritrean man who passed away in London. So I went to a church in South
London to pay my respects to the fellow Eritrean. In the church the Priest
said few interesting words and he said at times of death, people, always
ask questions about the deceased person’s history as to what he/she has
achieved in real life. Then the Priest said any human being in life must
have achieved something positive so that people can remember him / her for
the good things they have contributed to society / politics, peaceful
agreements etc. In so doing they can be celebrated forever or their name
can be written in gold for generations to come.
So how does the Ethiopian leader want us Eritreans to remember him in
history? I would say the following, that history tells me that he stood
side by side with Eritreans in arms and fought against the common enemy,
Megistu Hailemariam. At the time of Eritrean independence he also took the
courage to tell some warmongering Ethiopian parliamentarians that Eritrea
is free and if anyone else want to continue the war, he wished them good
luck, when it comes to the port of Assab he made very clear, repeatedly
that it is Eritrean. Obviously things have changed now and if history would
be kind to our friend Melees he should have the courage and call the UN
back, to complete the physical demarcation of the borders for the sake of
peace so that he can be remembered as a man of peace.
Finally, it is often said that peace talks, disputes, and conflicts can
only succeed when each side put itself in the shoes of the other. When it
comes to the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia it is the
Ethiopian leader that needs to alter his shoe size to match that of his
counterpart the Eritrean President. After all it is Ethiopia that has
failed to honour the final and binding decision of the courts, let’s hope
that the Ethiopian premier would use his common sense and completes the
picture of peace that he started with Eritrea, otherwise, history will not
give him any more opportunities - the ball remains entirely in his court.
Part Three to follow
Tesfahannes Beyene Bsc / Msc
London
August 2011
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Send big files for free. Simple steps. No registration.
Visit now http://www.nawelny.com
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----