He
also contradicts the conclusions of the Hague’s Eritrea-Ethiopia
Boundary
Commission (EEBC), which presented the map of the new border
demarcation in
December. Ethiopia’s requests for changes “so as to take better account
of
the human and physical geography” go way beyond the “technical”
problems
anticipated by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission.
In its March 9
report, the EEBC deemed that Ethiopia’s behavior “undermine not only
the
April decision (on the delineation of borders) but also the peace
process as
a whole.” Asmara quickly asked the international community to force
Ethiopia
to back down.
THE RETURN OF LANDMINES
A possible return to war between
the
two countries isn’t an immediate risk. But their negotiations are
nevertheless going to take place in a climate of war by proxy, as shown
by
the multiplication of incidents in the border zone. The United Nations
Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) agreed that groups of Eritrean
opponents could be behind laying the landmines that prompted clashes in
the
buffer zone under international surveillance last month.
On February
13, a
colonel from the Eritrean army was killed by stepping on a mine between
Om
Hajer and Antore. On the Ethiopian side of the border, similar
incidents
took place. On the morning of March 1, a truck from the Ethiopian army
ran
over a mine close to the main road from Adi Nebrid to Adi Daro (about
30 km
north of Inda Selase). No one was killed, but the incident was reported
to
the UNMEE. The same day, a Toyota pick-up truck from the Ethiopian army
ran
over another mine between Adi Hageray and Adi Awala (about 20 km
north-east
of Shiraro).
Colonel Tadesse Muluneh’s Ethiopian People’s Patriotic
Front
(EPPF), an opposition group armed by Eritrea, officially claimed
responsibility for laying the landmines. However, it’s more likely that
it’s
the work of Eritrean military personnel who control the Ethiopian
rebels. In
addition, the Eritrean officer charged with supervising EPPF and other
Ethiopian opposition groups’ activities, commander Habtezion Hagdu, was
just
arrested in Asmara with no apparent motive.
ADDIS ABABA’S COUNTER-ATTACK
For
its part, the Addis Ababa regime supports Heruy Tedla Bairou and
Abdella
Idris’ Eritrean National Alliance (ENA, Eritrean opposition), offering
the
group bases in Addis Ababa and Tigray (north of Ethiopia). These
anti-Asmara
operations are headed by Sebhat Nega, who isn’t always accountable to
Meles
Zenawi. The ENA trains fighters to support Ethiopian forces in case of
a
return to war with Eritrea, or to lead guerilla actions inside the
country.
Other Eritrean opposition groups, like Seyoum Ogbamichael’s ELF-RC or
Mesfin
Hagos’ EPLF-DP, refused to line up behind Ethiopia, despite pressure
from
Sudan.
NEW REGIONAL CONTEXT
The Sudan/Ethiopia partnership
has
become the hard core of the tripartite axis, formed by these two
countries
and Yemen, with the goal of surrounding and isolating Eritrea. In fact,
Yemen has resumed talks with President Issayas Afeworki’s regime via an
Arab
mediation (Egypt and Qatar). But Ethiopia especially wants to secure
the
main road that links the country to Sudan. A consulate was opened in
Gedaref
(Sudan), and the number of Ethiopian security agents in the east of
Sudan
has increased in order to protect ground transportation of goods and
oil
between Port Sudan and Ethiopia.
Ethiopians suspected of ties with the
opposition or of scheming with Eritrea were arrested in Gedaref, since
the
Ethiopian authorities feared that they were planning to sabotage this
communication link. One of these Ethiopian opposition members, a
supposed
Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front member, Yihenew Hunegnaw, was even
deported from Gedaref to Ethiopia by the Sudanese government.
THE INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER N° 1034
