wfn.org | Eritrea/Ethiopia: LWF General Secretary Urges International

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Eritrea/Ethiopia: LWF General Secretary Urges International Community to
Fulfill Its Duty
Commission Decision on Disputed Border a Fundamental Requirement for Peace in
the Horn of Africa

GENEVA, 8 February 2004 (LWI)  The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General
Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko has called on the international community to
fulfill its responsibility in resolving the border conflict between Eritrea
and Ethiopia.

The international community as expressed in the United Nations, has a clear
responsibility to ensure the implementation of the terms of the [December
2000] Algiers Agreement and the [April 2002] decision of the independent
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), Noko said in a letter to UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Noko noted that if that responsibility is not fulfilled, the integrity of the
international community will be brought into question and posterity will
judge us as remiss. He expressed hope that under Secretary-General Kofi
Annans leadership, the international community would call on the Ethiopian
government to rise above the objections it has recently raised, and to
implement the decision to which both governments had agreed to be bound.

Noko affirmed the demarcation of the disputed Eritrea-Ethiopia border in
accordance with the EEBC findings as a fundamental requirement for peace in
the Horn of Africa. The peoples of both countries, he noted, are unable to
bring up their children free from the specter of war as long as this dispute
remains unresolved. 

The EEBC was established under the Algiers Agreement, signed in 2000 after a
two-year border war between the two countries over the small, rocky village
of Badme in the western region. The body is composed of an equal number of
representatives of each country as well as a UN designated expert. Both
countries committed in advance that the commissions ruling would be final
and binding. 

In a separate letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Noko urged the
Ethiopian government to rise above the arguments and objections Ethiopia
has recently raised regarding the EEBCs ruling, and to accept and implement
this decision for the sake of peace. 

The general secretary stressed that the mutual commitment made in December
2000 should, as a matter of law, honor and ethics, be regarded as
sacrosanct. The people of Ethiopia and Eritrea deserve peace and stability,
which are essential preconditions for development and eradication of extreme
poverty in your country and the region as a whole, Noko wrote to Zenawi.

Noko also wrote to Eritreas Minister for National Development Wolday Futur,
pointing out that failure to implement the decision of the boundary
commission would represent a serious breach of respect for the rule of law.
It would risk further conflict in a region that can ill afford the
consequences in terms of human lives and development. The general secretary,
however, expressed gratitude for Eritreas acceptance of the EEBC findings
and its cooperation with the international community. 

The incessant tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia as well as the status of
non-governmental organizations were among issues addressed at a meeting
between Minister Futur and LWF General Secretary Noko during the latters
visit to Eritrea, January 21-25. 

The 1998-2000 fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia over the disputed border
is estimated to have resulted in the death of over 100,000 people. (533
words)

[The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
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