US mission must push for marking of border- Eritrea

US mission must push for marking of border- Eritrea
09 Feb 2006 14:33:11 GMTSource: Reuters
By Ed Harris
ASMARA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Eritrea said on Thursday it would accept the extension of a U.S. effort to mediate a border dispute with Ethiopia only if it leads to the demarcation of the frontier.
John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said on Wednesday the Security Council had given Washington another 30 days to try to solve the problem before discussing changes to the U.N. peacekeeping mission monitoring the border.
"They (the United Nations) don't need to reinvent the wheel," Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu told Reuters.
"All they need is to make the wheel move towards the legally and hermetically sealed decision which is border demarcation."
In the December 2000 pact to end the 1998-2000 border war which killed 70,000 people, the two countries agreed to accept the final ruling of an independent boundary commission.
Ethiopia has balked at the ruling, but said in December 2004 that it would accept it after negotiations with Eritrea on the mechanics of how the border demarcation will take place.
Eritrea rejects any diplomatic efforts that do not proceed directly to the enforcement of the ruling and marking of the border.
Apparently trying to force the issue last year, Eritrea banned U.N. helicopter flights, restricted ground patrols, and ejected western personnel from the U.N. mission.
That has left the future of the mission up in the air.
In January, the United States announced a new diplomatic push -- a move that was widely regarded by diplomats as the best chance for resolving the issue.
But the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, cancelled her trip to the Red Sea state because Eritrea blocked her trip to the border, U.S. officials said.
Bolton said the U.N. Security Council would pursue further meetings of the boundary commission and hear from witnesses of the peace agreement.
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