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Horn-border
sched-chrono
Horn border ruling aims to end 'Africa's most senseless war'
ADDIS
ABABA - ASMARA, April 11 (AFP) - Ethiopia and Eritrea took up arms over
their poorly defined common border in May 1998, a conflict described as
"Africa's most senseless war" that lasted nearly two years and claimed
tens of thousands of lives.
The
peace accord called on the Boundary Commission, a neutral body of the
International Court of Justice in The Hague, to determine the exact path of the
1,000-kilometre (620-mile) border, a ruling that is expected on Saturday.
The
frontier between Eritrea and Ethiopia -- whose current rulers are former
comrades-in-arms against the ousted dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam -- has been
in dispute since Asmara officially won independence from Addis Ababa in 1993,
and the new country rendered Ethiopia landlocked.
Following
is a chronology of events in the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
1998
May
6: First skirmishes between Eritrean forces and Ethiopian border guards in a
region claimed by both sides.
May 31: Fighting spreads to a second front in the northwestern Tigray region.
November
7-8: Ethiopia agrees to a peace plan during an Organisation of African Unity
(OAU) summit in Ouagadougou. The plan calls for the withdrawal of Eritrean
troops from disputed areas and the deployment of peacekeepers.
Mid-December:
Eritrean troops attempt to spread their operations to Tigray.
1999
February
4: Heavy fighting resumes on the Badme front. UN special envoy Mohamed
Sahnoun embarks on a mission to Asmara.
February
27: Eritrea accepts the OAU peace plan after defeats on the western front
and the loss of Badme.
May
16: Ethiopia bombs the Eritrean port of Massawa.
September
4: Ethiopia rejects as unsatisfactory technical arrangements annexed to the
OAU plan and insists that Eritrea must pull its troops out of areas claimed by
Ethiopia. Eritrea calls this a declaration of war.
2000
February
23: Fighting breaks out on the Burie front after an eight-month lull. US and
OAU envoys engage in shuttle diplomacy.
April
30: Indirect talks open in Algiers under the aegis of the OAU, but break
down six days later.
May
24: Eritrea accepts an OAU call to pull its forces back to positions held in
1998. Ethiopia says it has "liberated" a key town in a disputed border
area.
May
29: Indirect peace talks resume in Algiers, though fighting continues with Ethiopia pursuing an offensive along several fronts.
June
18: Ceasefire signed in Algiers under OAU auspices.
Sept
15: UN authorises the deployment of a 4,200-man peacekeeping force in the
Horn, the UN Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
Oct 23-27: First direct peace talks since May 1998.
Dec 12: Ethiopia and Eritrea sign a peace accord in Algiers.
2001
April
18: UNMEE sets up a 25-kilometer (15 mile) buffer zone along the
Ethiopian-Eritrean border.
Dec:
The Hague-based international border commission, tasked with defining the
frontier between the two Horn countries, begins work.
2002
Feb
4: A leading Ethiopian opposition party insists that the border commission's
ruling must give Ethiopia access to the sea.
March 15: UN extends UNMEE mandate until Sept 15.
