The technical arrangements were requested by Ethiopia to be 'Non-negotiable', which was agreed by Eritrea. OUA finally prepared the document and presented it to both countries.

The failure of the proximity talks was not a surprise to anyone who had been following the developments of the conflict; in fact, it was outright predictable.

Ethiopia had put itself in a difficult situation by refusing to accept the 'Non-negotiable' technical arrangements. After requesting for, and getting clarifications on the technical arrangements, Ethiopia formally rejected it. As a result, all eyes focused on it. At this point, it became clear to Ethiopia that simply not accepting the technical arrangements would make it liable for the outcome of the devastating war, if and when it happens.

Being in a quandary, and rather than being blamed for totally rejecting the technical arrangements, Ethiopia through its local and international media started disseminating information that the technical arrangement were in fact negotiable.

At this point, a serious concern by the peacemakers was in order. Bringing to Ethiopia's attention that the technical arrangements were indeed non-negotiable would have helped ease the situation. This was an opportune time to bring Ethiopia to its senses. Putting a little but firm pressure to accept the technical arrangements would have helped in bringing peace to a new and meaningful level.

Unfortunately, the peacemakers did not stick to the rules put forth by the OAU at the request of Ethiopia. The technical arrangements were meant to be non-negotiable, no ifs and no buts.

Regrettably, when Ethiopia said, "If." the peacemakers' response was not, "Uh! Uh! . No ifs." and when Ethiopia said, "But." the reply was not, "Nope! . No buts." Instead, the peacemakers went back to Eritrea to discuss proximity talks, in essence, to ask Eritrea to negotiate the non-negotiable technical arrangements: How can anyone bring two sided to an agreement if rules and agreements keep on changing? Anyway, whether it was pressure or good will, Eritrea agreed to hold the proximity talks.

To begin with, the proximity talks should not have taken place; moreover, direct talks would have been more productive. Ethiopia swore not to hold direct talks with Eritrea: How can any dispute be resolved unless there is a civilized face-to-face dialog? Changing mind after making serious commitments and vehemently rejecting face-to-face discussions with an adversary is detrimental to peace by any civilized standard.

By pressuring Eritrea to accept the proximity talks and not Ethiopia to sign the technical arrangements, the peacemakers opened a can of warms. This move, not only did it pull Ethiopia out of its predicament, but also put a new twist on the peace process. Right after the meeting, in fact, just before the meeting was over, Ethiopia went on the offensive. It started blaming Eritrea for introducing pre-conditions at the proximity talks, although the request made by Eritrea was merely signing the two documents (framework agreement and modalities of implementation), which both countries accepted but had not yet signed. Ethiopia is now taking the peace process into a totally new avenue. It took advantage of this opportunity and diverted the attention away from the issue of signing the non-negotiable technical arrangements to the failure of the proximity talks. It is mind-boggling why the peacemakers fell for it.

Final Word: War had always been and will always be the major ingredient of wretched human life. Just imagining the concentration of very well trained armies, latest arms, and the close proximity of the trenches along the entire Ethio-Eritrean border sends shivers through any sensible person's spine. A small spark can ignite the war and the result can be an immense loss of human lives. If the OAU, UN, EU, and the US really want to bring peace in the region and save thousands of innocent lives at this eleventh hour, a decisive action has to be taken now; the clock is ticking and there is no time.

Note: I finished typing this article last night, unfortunately, before I posted it this morning, I heard that Ethiopia started a new offensive. I  hope this is not the spark I mentioned above.