Annex - Aiga Forum, an Ethiopian forum for news and views promoting

ANN EX 5Asmara, 7 November 2008H.E. Mr. Jorge UrbinaPresident of the Security CouncilUnited NationsNew YorkExcellency,The Government of Eritrea has learned that the UN Security Council ismulling over the options of issuing a "Presidential Statement or Resolution"against Eritrea in support of, and to condone, the unfounded accusationslevelled by Djibouti.The irony of this drama cannot be overemphasized. As it may be recalled,the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1420 in September 2002requesting Ethiopia to dismantle, within 30 days, its illegal settlements inand occupation of, the sovereign Eritrean territory of Dembe Mengul inwestern Eritrea. Ethiopia ignored the Resolution and the UN SecurityCouncil failed to take any remedial action.Ethiopia continues to occupy the town of Badme and other Eritreanterritories in violation of fundamental tenets of international law. Ethiopia'sacts, which have been tolerated for the past six years by the UN SecurityCouncil, constitute a flagrant breach of the Algiers Peace Agreement; and,Articles 2.4 and 33 of the UN Charter on the "non-use of force against theterritorial integrity of a Member State" and the commitment of MemberStates to the "pacific settlement of disputes" respectively.And in April this year, Ethiopia has gone a step further to occupy and deployoffensive weapons on the Eritrean part of Mount Musa Ali on the Ethiopia-Djibouti and Eritrea junction.In view of these facts, why is the Security Council bracing today to takepunitive action against Eritrea on at best a putative and at worst a