We are not there yet, but it looks, if one goes by the statement of the President of the Security Council, and not by the muddled message of the Witnesses, as if the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea may finally get demarcated. We are assuming, of course, the improbable; that there are no more last minute deal-breakers coming from Addis Ababa. Against our best judgment, we have to have hope that this time the Security Council means business.

It may be a case of irrational exuberance or misplaced hope, whatever it is, there's something in the Security Council's message that gives us the most precious gift possible-hope.

According to Mr. John Bolton, the current President of the Council,

"The Security Council emphasizes that both parties bear the primary responsibility for the full, unconditional and expeditious implementation of the Algiers Agreements.

"The Security Council recalls that under the Algiers Agreements, both Eritrea and Ethiopia have agreed to accept the delimitation and demarcation decisions of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) as final and binding.

"In this regard, the Security Council calls on both sides to cooperate with the EEBC to implement its decisions without further delay.

"The Security Council urges the EEBC to convene a meeting of the parties to prepare to resume demarcation and strongly urges the two parties to attend the EEBC meeting and to cooperate with and abide by the requirements specified by the EEBC, in order to successfully conclude the demarcation process.

As we have maintained all along only the US has the clout to tell Ethiopia that the EEBC Decision to which Ethiopia agreed was final and binding and that it had to be accepted without equivocation.

Strange as it is, Ethiopia has been allowed to flout UN Security Resolutions with impunity, when other countries that showed lesser disdain for international law had to pay the price for their defiance.

There is no point in speculating why the US decided that the time had come to get Ethiopia back to the table, or what promises it has made to Prime Minister Meles in return for his acquiescence to accept what was his obligation to accept in the first place.

We hope no deal was struck at the expense of the integrity of the EEBC Decision, although there's a hint of odor in the air that something foul had been contemplated behind Eritrea's back. With arrogance laced with a heavy dose of cynicism, the US, initially sought to persuade, no make it pressure, Eritrea to consent to the appointment of an American envoy to facilitate the EEBC's work.

When Eritrea refused, saying that such an appointment would undermine the integrity and independence of the EEBC, Washington was not pleased. In a mighty breach of diplomatic practice American officials visited Badme through Ethiopia, knowing full well the border town's legal status in an attempt to teach Eritrea a lesson that there's a price to pay for not going along with the wishes of Washington.

Unable to go to the EEBC with Eritrea's assent to the appointment of the American envoy, US officials hid behind the Witnesses to pressure the EEBC to accept an American to oversee its work.

"The Witnesses urge the Commission to convene a meeting with the parties and invite the Commission to consider the need for technical discussions with the support of a neutral facilitator to assist with the process of demarcation."

Two questions come to mind. Has the US joined Ethiopia in charging that the EEBC is not a neutral body? Are we to assume that the EEBC technical staff is so incompetent that it needs outside help? It is, indeed, unbecoming for the world's sole super power, the self appointed enforcer of the rule of law, to second guess the integrity and competence of an international body established under the auspices of the UN Security Council?

It is a good sign that the Security Council did not join the Witnesses in asking the EEBC to consider the appointment of a "neutral facilitator." Had it done so it would have done irreparable damage to its own credibility, setting along the way a terrible precedent that undermines the independence of Tribunal bodies.. If the Security Council is saying what we think it is saying, that it is up to the EEBC to demarcate the border on the basis of the 12 December 2000 Algiers Agreement then Eritrea's insistence that only the EEBC had the authority to delimit and demarcate the border has been vindicated. Whether Prime Minster Meles is prepared to listen to the UN body is a different matter, but then this is something outside of Eritrea's control. In the mean time, let's cross our fingers and hope for the best. Thank God, the EEBC is a legal and not a political body.