ETHIOPIA: MELES DISCUSSES BORDER ISSUE WITH DAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 004000

SIPDIS


AF FOR A/S FRAZER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2015
TAGS: PREL KPKO MARR ET ER EE BORDER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: MELES DISCUSSES BORDER ISSUE WITH DAS
YAMAMOTO


Classified By: CDA Vicki Huddleston for reason 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles told visiting
DAS Don Yamamoto and Charge Huddleston November 29, that the
time is not yet ripe to move forward on the boundary dispute
with Eritrea. The Prime Minister said he would not send a
team to attend a meeting called by the EEBC, but was not
opposed to a future meeting. Meles maintained that resolution
of the border issue was dependent on Eritrean President
Isaias accepting a dialogue on normalizing relations. In
reference to the recent UNSC resolution imposing possible
sanctions should war resume, Meles assured the US delegation
that Ethiopia would withdraw troops to as far as 140 km away
from the border. End Summary.

--------------
Border Dispute Still on Hold
--------------


2. (C) Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles told visiting DAS
Yamamoto and Charge Huddleston that the time was not yet
appropriate for moving forward on resolving the border
dispute. Meles insisted that Eritrean President Isaias must
renounce war as a viable option for resolution of the
seven-year old border dispute. Meles noted Ethiopia's
commitment not to resort to war as a tool for resolving the
border dispute. The international community should ignore
Isaias' "temper tantrums". Isaias' ploy to stop UNMEE
flights is another pressure point on the international
community to resolve the border dispute.


3. (C) Referring to the recent UNSC resolution, DAS Yamamoto
remarked on the requirement for Ethiopia to accept the
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission decision, which Eritrea
has accepted and Ethiopia has only accepted "in principal".
Meles replied that demarcation of the border without
addressing the fundamental causes for the conflict (i.e.
taking steps to normalize relations) will not guarantee
sustainable peace. As a way forward, the DAS asked if Meles
would send a team to a meeting called by the EEBC, which
Ethiopia has refused to attend thus far. Meles said no -- not
until Isaias shows commitment to peacefully resolving the
border dispute without the use of force and a dialogue to
improve relations.

--------------
UNSC resolution - Acceptable
--------------


4. (C) Meles indicated that Ethiopia could live with the
latest UNSC resolution calling for possible sanctions against
Eritrea if it did not lift restrictions on UNMEE operations
and if either Eritrea or Ethiopia returned to conflict. The
resolution also demanded Ethiopia accept the EEBC decision,
but did not threaten sanctions on this point. Meles said
Ethiopia would not abide by any UN resolution if sanctions
were tied to Ethiopia's full acceptance of the EEBC decision
without clearly calling for a dialogue to normalize relations
and address the root causes of the war. Meles added that the
head of the EEBC, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, exceeded his mandate
in making the final adjudication of the border dispute.


5. (C) To meet the current UN resolution demands to ease
border tensions, Meles said he ordered his commanders to
withdraw Ethiopia's troops to the December 16, 2004 line. In
a separate meeting with DAS Yamamoto, Ethiopian Chief of
Staff General Samora confirmed receipt of this order and
noted that it would mean withdrawing troops to as much as 140
km from the border in some areas. The withdrawal process
would take a week. Meles said he doubted whether Isaias would
reciprocate. General Samora demurred in criticizing the
call, noting that Eritrea had been moving troops to the
border area. UNMEE Deputy SRSG Azouz Ennifar told DAS and
Charge separately that Ethiopia had been particularly helpful
to UNMEE and that the UN was aware of where Ethiopia's troops
were positioned. This was not the case with Eritrea. Ennifar
noted that UNMEE was not able to verify Eritrea's troops and
there was evidence that two divisions of Eritrean troops may
have been re-deployed from the Sudan border to other areas.

--------------
Comment: There is Light, But in the Distance
--------------


6. (C) Meles' stated position remains unchanged. Progress on
the border can proceed only if Meles is assured of a dialogue
with Eritrea on normalizing relations and Isaias receives
equal assurance of demarcation of the border. Potential
elements for moving both parties proposed by the EEBC
discussed are "open borders", allowing free movement of
people without restrictions after demarcation; and giving
full authority to the EEBC to demarcate the border, including
areas where there are "anomalies and impracticalities."
Ultimately, when both sides view the necessity for peaceful
bilateral discussions, resolution of the border will become a
greater priority.
HUDDLESTON