Djibouti says Eritrea
risking war
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.
The Eritrean ambassador to the UN denied that his country had taken
any land from Djibouti.
Both France and the US have troops in Djibouti, and its border with
Eritrea lies at a key strategic point at the mouth of the Red Sea.
Eritrea's ambassador instead accused Ethiopia of moving troops to
the border of the three countries.
Since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, the Horn of Africa
country has been involved in two serious conflicts over territory
with its neighbours.
Clashes between Eritrea and Djibouti earlier this year left nine
Djiboutian troops dead and 60 injured.
On Thursday, Djibouti's President Omah Guellah appealed to the UN
Security Council to help resolve the dispute.
"Continued inaction in whatever form not only will encourage but
will benefit Eritrea's attitude," he said.
"This would only give my country one option, the option of war."
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's Laura Trevelyan reports 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, she says.
France also wants the two sides to talk to each other about their
disputed border.
Source:BBC
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