NAIROBI, 31 December (IRIN) - Eritrea has said "shuttle diplomacy" cannot change the final and binding nature of the independent ruling on its border with Ethiopia.
Presidential spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel told IRIN his country would not be "susceptible" to diplomatic shuttling between Eritrea and Ethiopia in a bid to resolve the impasse in the peace process.

He was reacting to the appointment of a UN special envoy for Eritrea and Ethiopia who, according to diplomatic sources, has been named as the former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy.

NAIROBI, 30 December (IRIN) - Eritrea has rejected accusations that it is destabilising the Horn region as empty claims, saying history shows who the aggressor is.
On Monday, the leaders of Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen - who held a two-day summit in Addis Ababa - accused the small Red Sea state of fuelling regional instability.

"When we talk about dialogue in the sub-region we mean Eritrea should act positively with the neighbours to achieve a final good neighbourly relationship between the states," Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir told a press conference. "It is

The Federal Foreign Office supported 307 projects for humanitarian aid, humanitarian mine clearance as well as disaster prevention all over the world in 2003 to the tune of EUR 71.5 million.
Some 237 projects totalling EUR 52.5 million received support from the humanitarian aid budget. This funding was used to look after victims of natural disasters or armed conflicts and provide life-saving commodities such as clean drinking water, food and medication. The aid projects were implemented by German non-governmental

ADDIS ABABA, 29 December (IRIN) - Former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy has been appointed UN special envoy to help resolve the stalled Ethiopia and Eritrea peace process, diplomatic sources said on Monday.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote to both countries on 25 December informing them of his decision to appoint the former minister, the sources stated.

The sources added that both countries have responded, although details of the letters remain unknown.

Axworthy, a former nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, is best known for his role in pushing through a global treaty

1. Main features of Dutch policy on Africa
1.1 Dutch policy on Africa: key aspects

Sub-Saharan Africa is the only part of the world where the general standard of living has been falling in recent decades. Poverty here is worse and affects a larger part of the population than on any other continent. The problems are prodigious: the proliferation of armed conflicts, weak and corrupt governments, lack of economic development, inadequate social infrastructures, environmental degradation and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. What is more, these problems are closely linked. Despite substantial

S/2003/1186
I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 12 of Security Council resolution 1320 (2000) of 15 September 2000, and provides an update on developments in the peace process since my report dated 4 September 2003 (S/2003/858). The report also describes the deployment and activities of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), whose current mandate expires on 15 March 2004.

II. Status of the Temporary Security Zone and adjacent areas

News No. 03/161
On 19 December, 129 Ethiopian civilians returned from Eritrea to Ethiopia under the auspices of the ICRC. The group crossed the border on a bridge over the Mereb river, between the towns of Adi Quala, in Eritrea, and Rama, on the Ethiopian side. Those repatriated included five minors and two elderly women, who are now back with their families.

ICRC delegates based in Eritrea accompanied the Ethiopian civilians on the first leg of their journey. At the crossing point, the group was met by ICRC staff based in Ethiopia before being placed

ADDIS ABABA, 18 December (IRIN) - An independent boundary commission set up to rule on the frontier between Ethiopia and Eritrea has begun scaling down staff, the UN said on Thursday.
Gail Bindley Taylor Sainte, spokeswoman for the UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE), told journalists the decision had been made because of a "lull" in the peace process.

Sainte, speaking at a video-linked press briefing between Asmara and Addis Ababa, declined to say how many staff were being "suspended" or when they would return.

The move comes amid the stalled physical

CAIRO, Dec 17 (AFP) - Eritrean Foreign Minister Ali Seid Abdella called on Egypt and the world community Wednesday to intervene to resolve his country's crisis with Ethiopia over establishing a post-war border.

Ali told reporters he urged them "to deploy efforts to encourage Ethiopia to apply the decision" of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), a mediating body established to draw up a new border.

He was speaking following talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Eritrea said Monday it would shun a conference