Addis Ababa,Apr.22(ENA)--Ethiopia has currently been playing its role in the fight against terrorism, to which the country is not new, in partnership with the U.S. government and the international community, says Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.S. Kassahun Ayele.

In his March 29 address to diplomats and journalists at the National Press Club in Washington DC. Ambassador Kassahun also said international partnership against poverty should be made a priority as poverty could fan terrorism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release sent to ENA on Thursday.

The Ethiopian Government since the past decade has been taking various measures and registering results in the fight against the country's worst enemy, poverty, with its sustainable development and poverty reduction strategy, free economy policy and democratization fronts, the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC quoted Ambassador Kassahun as saying.

Ethiopia has been working in close cooperation with its development partners including the U.S. Government, Ambassador Kassahun said, adding the country has been exerting efforts to realize the civil service reform program and various other development strategies.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provided by the U.S. Government and the "Everything but Arms" (EBA) market opportunity offered by the European Union have brought significant benefits in Ethiopia's economic development endeavors, he said.

A wide-ranging activities have got underway in Ethiopia in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Ambassador Kassahun said and commended the U.S. and other international partners for the support provided in the field.

Ever since the Eritrean invasion of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government has made huge efforts to resolve the dispute peacefully, Ambassador Kassahun recalled. Ethiopia has accepted the April 2002 delimitation ruling of the border commission in line with the Algiers Agreement, but the commission failed to correct the errors it made although it had pledged to do so, he said.

Ethiopia has expressed willingness for the commencement of demarcation activities between the two countries except on the disputed lands.

Ethiopia, strongly committed as ever for sustainable peace, is ready for comprehensive dialogue with Eritrea, Ambassador Kassahun is quoted as saying in the Embassy's statement sent to the Ministry.