Africa News » Djibouti

Djibouti to go to war with Eritrea

travelhouseuk — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:01:10 +0000

Djibouti’s president has said his country will have to go to war with Eritrea unless the UN acts to resolve growing tension over a border dispute. Djibouti has accused Eritrea of invading its territory and its ambassador to the UN said Eritrea had been avoiding mediation. Eritrea has said it had no territorial ambitions.Both France and the US have troops in Djibouti. Its border with Eritrea is at a key strategic point on the Red Sea. But Eritrean ambassador Araya Desta said his country wanted “the cultivation of good neighbourly relations with Djibouti”.

“Contrary to the claims made, Eritrea has not taken any land that belongs to Djibouti and it does not have any territorial ambitions,” he said.

Desta instead accused Ethiopia of moving troops to high ground on the border of the three countries,

“Ethiopia has built from the Djiboutian side a network of winding roads up the mount and deployed offensive long-range artillery and heavy equipment directed at Eritrea,” he said.
Since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, the Horn of Africa country has been involved in two serious conflicts over territory with its neighbours.

‘Missions rebuffed’

Clashes between Eritrea and Djibouti earlier this year left nine Djiboutian troops dead and 60 injured.

In June the UN Security Council called on Eritrea and Djibouti to agree to a ceasefire, stressing that Eritrea should pull its forces back, the BBC reporter from the United Nations.

France, the former colonial power in Djibouti, is working on presenting a plan to the Security Council reiterating demands for Eritrea to withdraw its forces.

France also wants the two sides to talk to each other about their disputed border.
Djibouti’s ambassador to the UN, Roble Olhaye, said Eritrea had “refused or rebuffed all international mediation”.

“For the last four months all international organisations have been trying to talk to them, all regional organisations have been trying to send missions to Eritrea’s capital Asmara and they did not even issue them visas.” he added.

He also dismissed the claim about Ethiopia amassing its forces.

“Whatever the Eritrean ambassador has said is hogwash,” he said.

But Desta said Eritrea refused to be drawn into what he called a “fabricated conflict”.

Djibouti suspends increased port tariffs

travelhouseuk — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:01:21 +0000

A new tariff regime that was planned by the government of Djibouti and set to take effect beginning August 15 this year was withdrawn one day before it became operational.

Djibouti Port Authority Board under its Chairman Abdourahiman Boreh had decided on the 15 percent raise due to high oil prices on the global market and inflation which the country is experiencing but had to reverse the decision following instructions from the country’s President, Ismael Omar Guelleh, sources have said.

The withdrawal of the new regime is good news to Ethiopia as the increase would have cost the Ethiopian economy an additional 22.5 million dollars annually.According to DP World Djibouti, a management company in charge of the port’s operations since 2000, had designed a new regime of tariff rates for all services, a move which would mean an increase of 15 percent on container handling and stevedoring costs. It had also planned reduce the free storage period from 15days to eight days. The two issues would have heavily impacted on Ethiopia’s import and export businesses.The last time the port attempted to increase its tariff was in January 2001 when it wanted to increase tariffs by 30 percent but Ethiopia successfully protested at the proposal that would have cost it 170 million dollars.

Ethiopia and Djibouti signed a port utilization agreement in May 2004 which among other things stipulates that tariff changes are supposed to be discussed in advance. There is, however, a difference of opinion over what exactly prior notification means; while Djiboutians understand that they have to inform their Ethiopian counterparts two months in advance of the planned date of enforcement, Ethiopians take it as an opportunity to negotiate the amount and nature of any proposed tariff adjustment.

The port’s management company had attributed the tariff rise to the soaring cost of fuel, which has increased by 350pc, a headline inflation rate of 19.2pc in Djibouti and a need to fund new equipment. Ethiopia is the major user of the port as it is not only a gateway for its transit cargo, but also as a point of its destination. The volume of Ethiopia’s import and export cargo rose from 3.9 million tonnes in 2006/07 to 4.6 million tonnes in 2007/08. It is projected to grow by 20pc this year.