Ethiopia considers the Peace Agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea signed on 12 December in Algiers as a document which lays the basis for peace between the two countries. Accordingly, Ethiopia is committed to the scrupulous and faithful implementation of all the provisions of the Agreement.

It is in this spirit that the Government of Ethiopia has been carrying out intensive discussions with the ICRC over the past few days on the speedy implementation of the provisions of the Agreement on the release and repatriation of prisoners of war. It is to be recalled that the Agreement also obliges the two parties to release and repatriate or return to their last place of residence all others detained as a result of the conflict.