whether the unmee boundary survey commission will finally reach its initial
point at djeret later this week
as one reliable source now reports
or will delay until after the military consultations scheduled for november
5
as another reliable source reports
or will be subject to additional delay
as a third reliable source predicts
it is clear that the commission will actually be creating a virgin tripoint
there
whenever they get there
& wherever there may prove to be
rather than merely recovering & renewing & upgrading a previously marked
point
as the judicial decision explains
http://www.un.org/NewLinks/eebcarbitration
especially in chapters 6 & 8
& as is shown in map 12
the tripoint position aka point 41
is part of a long alignment that was determined in conformity with colonial
agreements by measuring 60 kilometers inland from the coast
& its geoposition like much of the rest of the new boundary has not yet been
pinpointed but only estimated down to tenths of minutes of latitude &
longitude
namely nlat12d28m3 x elong42d24m1 in this case
so the commissioners will have to select the most propitious & precise
locations for many of the points
including & beginning with the djeret point
to within roughly a 100 meter radius of the approximate positions handed
down by the court
while taking into account such local factors as visibility or suitability
for monumentation etc
in fact this mandate for local adjustments could be the saving grace for
squeaking past any places such as badme that may still be under dispute when
the survey arrives in their neighborhood
just deflect a few meters here or there on the wing so as to keep everyone
as happy as possible
or at least that was an earlier suggestion from the fool on cream hill
which however is already looking like a real probability at this point
but a more immediate technical problem i have also not seen addressed
anywhere yet is how the commission will figure out exactly where djibouti
begins or ends
insofar as the specified tripoint position falls not at any monument
but somewhere on a direct line between 2 monumented points of the 1954
ethiopia djibouti demarcations
specifically monument 89 at dirko koma & monument 90 on the summit of mount
musaali
which evidently stand about 20 kilometers apart
according to a map in brownlie
tho the latter monument is less than 600 meters from the tripoint position
by exact computation
these existing points 89 & 90 are mentioned by both brownlie & the state
department
http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS154.pdf
but coordinates are only given for one of them
so the problem of properly aligning the new point 41 with the old points 89
& 90
cant be solved yet from here
indeed i can only hope that the court has determined its point 41 in
conformity with the old points 89 & 90
for i havent yet found any evidence of it
& that the commissioners can indeed produce the required alignment on the
ground
& that after all this trouble djibouti will not only not object but will in
fact agree to honor the unmee initial point as the djeret tripoint too
but this is going to be fun to watch unfolding
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