Washington court dismisses Eritrea's accusation leveled against Ethiopia

 Addis Ababa, August 8(ENA)--The charge filed by the Eritrean government against Ethiopia and its Commercial Bank at the Washington court has been rejected, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

  The ministry told ENA on Wednesday that the charge demanded the court to order the return of property owned by Eritreans deported from Ethiopia for security reasons.

   The lawsuit was filed before the signing of the Ethio-Eritrean peace deal and has also been a thorny issue during the preceding negotiations, the ministry said.

  It said the government of Ethiopia had been arguing from the start that all compensation issues should be entertained by the Compensation Commission.

  However, the ministry said, the regime in Asmara took the case to the Washington court and refused to present it to the commission.

  It said the Washington court ruled out on August 2 this year that the case should be dealt with by the Commission.

  The ministry said the government in Asmara, which was beaten by the heroic Ethiopian defense forces, has also incurred a humiliating loss at the court of law. 

  Meanwhile, the ministry said the Border and Compensation Commissions established last January soon after the signing of the peace deal were discharging their duties properly.

  It said Ethiopia and Eritrea had submitted applications containing their border claims to the Border Commission.

  The ministry said the Compensation Commission has recently passed disciplinary decisions, which it described as appropriate and constructive.

   Based on the decisions Ethiopia is making intensive preparations to submit its compensation requests to the Commission in December this year, the ministry indicated.

(END)