SG/SM/9641
AFR/1079
9 December 2004

Secretary-General Studies Ethiopian Proposal on Boundary Commission

NEW YORK, 8 December (UN Headquarters) -- Following is a statement attributable to the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

Further to the Secretary-General’s statement of 26 November, he has studied the five-point proposal that the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi submitted to Parliament on 25 November.

The Secretary-General welcomes any step which may contribute to full implementation of the 2000 Algiers Agreements and the subsequent decision of the Boundary Commission, to the initiation of dialogue between Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as to the restoration of normal relations between these two neighbouring countries.  Such relations could contribute in a major way to economic and social development in both countries, as well as to that of the whole region.

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