It Is Not Suicide to Accept the Peace Agreement
By: Aster Iyasu, The Netherlands
October 19, 2003

The fact the matter, it is not suicide to accept the peace agreement, but it is suicide not to accept it. This is true in the case of the Ethiopian government, because by accepting the peace agreement, respecting the international law and abiding by the rule of law; it would be the greatest service the government could possibly do for the Ethiopian people. But, if
the Ethiopian government continues to reject the peace agreement, which is decided by the Boundary Commission as final and binding, to the dismay of all of us, it would be disastrous not only for Ethiopia but also for the whole region, particularly the Horn of Africa.

In my opinion, the main reason why the TPLF regime rejecting the Border Decision and is also beating the war drums is that in the first place, the minority regime has failed to inform the public the facts on the ground especially when both parties was told the Border Decision that was made public by the EEBC in April 13, 2002. As consequence of that I have developed a puzzle that I couldn't able to figure it out. How could the Addis Ababa government give false information to the 60-plus million Ethiopian people and couldn't able to fix it right?

In April 13, 2002, just a few hours after the Border Decision the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfun, told the Ethiopian people that the contested area -Badme- is given to Ethiopia. In his infamous letter of September 19, 2003 Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accused the Boundary commission of giving Badme illegally to Eritrea. This two conflicting events are giving headache and troubling dilemma to the TPLF regime. But,
the ironic danger of this situation is that the effort for peace in the region could collapse not from the Ethiopian government's acts of desperate adventure, but from the failure of the international community in general and the UN's Security Council in particular to put a pressure on the TPLF regime to abide by final and binding decision of the Boundary Commission for Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Now, it is clear that everything is up to the UN and the Security Council to decide the direction of the peace agreement in the Horn Africa. I believe, the international community, the UN, the EU, the US and the AU must realize that it is in the best interest of the Ethiopian people that the ADDIS ABABA GOVERNMENT to cooperate for the implementation of the final process of the peace agreement.

Which direction are we heading to? Is it to the final peace or to the disastrous and carnage of war? Once again this question is reserved to the International Community and the UNSC to give us a full answer. Hopefully, if the UN, UNSC and the others want to maintain the momentum behind the EEBC's Border Decision, they will have to make a greater pressure diplomatically and politically. That would give the guarantors of the
Algiers Peace Agreement of Ethiopia-Eritrea a golden opportunity to do something concrete to end the bloodletting in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

A useful beginning would be the understanding of the historical back ground of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Both countries can not sustain another war and carnage. Ethiopia must be stopped before it starts another disastrous war. Clearly, the success of guaranteeing peace in the region will require overcoming main obstacle: It relies heavily on the International Community to impose a pressure on Ethiopia to abide by the rule of law. Otherwise it
would be too late to stop the interminable bloodletting conflict.