Global Policy Forum

By Irwin Arieff

Eritrea on Friday rejected the appointment of former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy as a U.N. envoy to mediate its border dispute with Ethiopia, dampening hopes of a speedy resolution to heightened tensions with its neighbor. Eritrea has called for Ethiopia to be sanctioned for its refusal to accept a new frontier set out by an international commission under the terms of a peace deal that ended their 1998-2000 border war in which at least 70,000 people died.

Eritrea rejects Ethiopia's call for a new mechanism to lay out the boundary, arguing that both sides had agreed to accept the Hague-based commission's work as final and binding. "We reject any form of mediation which tries to find another solution to the problem," Yemane Gebremeskel, head of the president's office, told reporters. "The solution already exists in the form of the Boundary Commission decision." Ethiopia has welcomed the appointment of former Axworthy as the special envoy, saying it is committed to a peaceful resolution.

While both countries were informed by letter of Axworthy's appointment, a U.N. spokesman in New York said the world body would have no comment on the dispute as consultations were continuing and the selection process had not been completed. Ethiopia is upset about the commission's decision to award Eritrea the settlement of Badme, a dusty town of about 5,000 people that holds high symbolic value for many Ethiopians. Axworthy had been expected to visit both countries to try to break the deadlock in line with an anticipated increase in diplomatic pressure from countries including the United States, Britain and Germany this month. International experts had been due to start marking out the new 600-mile frontier between the two countries last year, but the process has been repeatedly delayed.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan , in a report to the Security Council released on Friday, said the situation between the two northeast African neighbors "remains difficult, even precarious" and warned that "a minor miscalculation by either side" could lead to a rekindling of the conflict. "Recent inflammatory rhetoric, in particular in Eritrea, has done nothing to advance the peace process," Annan said. "This conflict can only be resolved by peaceful means, and I wish to emphasize that any threat to use force or any preparations in this regard are extremely dangerous."

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