Ethiopia-Eritrea border commission ends work with no agreement

An international commission attempting to set a boundary between Ethiopia and Eritrea ended its work Friday after the rival Horn of Africa neighbors failed to agree on a new border in a region beset by escalating tensions. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, but the border between the two was never formally demarcated. Tens of thousands were killed in a border war that erupted in 1998. Under a 2000 peace deal, both sides agreed to accept an international boundary commission's ruling on the border dispute. The commission, based at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, proposed a border in 2002, but Ethiopia has refused to accept it because it awarded the key town of Badme to Eritrea.