December 14, 2007: Despite demands from the
Ethiopian government that oil and mining companies continue to operate in
Ogaden, at least one Chinese company has refused. China's Zhoungyan Petroleum
Exporation Bureau (ZPEB) issued a statement earlier this month that it would
not continue to conduct seismic surveys in the Ogaden region. This is a
political setback for the Ethiopian government, which has been trying to
control ethnic Somali rebels in the Ogaden.
December 5, 2007: The U.S. asked Ethiopia to
"lessen tensions" with Eritrea, specifically on the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.
The U.S. is concerned that the dissolution of the EEBC (November 30) will
remove a "political firebreak" that has served to keep the two countries from
going back to war.
December 2, 2007: The Ethiopian government once
again accused Eritrea of supporting several rebel organizations in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia claims Eritrea supports the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The
Ethiopian statement said that Eritrea has a training camp for the OLF near
Teseney. Ethiopia also claims that Eritrea supports the Ogaden Liberation Front
(ONLF) and the Ethiopian Peoples Patriotic Front (EPPF).
November 30, 2007: The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary
Commission (EEBC) officially dissolved. The EEBC did succeed in demarcating the
border. However, Ethiopia refused to accept the EEBC's decision that the town
of Badme belonged to Eritrea. The EEBC's decision was supposed to be binding.
The EEBC made its official "delimitation decision" on April 13, 2002.
