ADDIS ABABA,10/13/2003 (IRIN) - Ethiopia has accused an independent
boundary commission of trying to "ridicule" it after the body, set up to
rule on the contested border with Eritrea, called on Addis Ababa to comply
with the decision.

In a statement, the Ethiopian foreign ministry described the
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) as "callous" and said its
ruling would �create so many ticking time bombs� that peace in the region
would be threatened.

The attack on the five-strong legal team comes after it launched a
point-by-point rebuttal following condemnation of its work by Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi.

Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, president of The Hague-based commission, dismissed
the criticism as �misconceived and misleading�.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Sir Elihu spelt out his
rebuttal in 18 separate points. The EEBC was set up by the two countries
in the Algiers peace accord marking the end of a bitter two-year border
war. Both countries agreed to accept the EEBC border decision as final and
binding.

But Ethiopia has since rejected parts of the ruling which place contested
territories in Eritrea, particularly the village of Badme where the war
flared up. Meles recently said the commission was in "terminal crisis" and
called for a new body to rule on the contested areas.

�There is no crisis, terminal or otherwise which cannot be cured by
Ethiopia�s compliance with its obligations under the Algiers agreement, in
particular its obligations to treat the Commission�s delimitation
determination as final and binding,� Sir Elihu said in his letter, dated 7
October.

Demarcation of the 1,000 km border has been delayed twice over the impasse
and is now scheduled to take place this month. Observers say further
delays are expected.

Sir Elihu said the ruling was totally consistent with international law.

�The parties did not give the commission the task of deciding which state
administered Badme in recent years," he added. "And at the critical time,
when the relevant treaty of 1902 was
concluded, Badme and certain other villages and settlements which now
exist had not then come into existence.�

Part of Ethiopia's argument for rejecting the ruling is that Badme has
been under its administration.