ERITREA/ETHIOPIA: Tigrayan officials warn of clashes over Badme

The president of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which borders Eritrea, has warned of local clashes following a recent announcement that the controversial village of Badme is in Eritrea. Tsirgay Berhe, who heads the regional government in Tigray, said the local population might not accept the decision. On Friday, the independent Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) categorically stated that the symbolic village of Badme - where the two countries' border war flared up in 1998 - was in Eritrea. The EEBC rejected attempts by Ethiopia to "vary" the delimited border line, ahead of physical demarcation due to start in July.