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Ethiopian, Eritrean Religious Leaders Try to Reconcile Two Nations VOA News 13 Feb 2002 22:47 UTC 
Religious leaders from Ethiopia and Eritrea have begun a meeting in the Eritrea capital, Asmara, in an effort to reconcile the two nations which waged a two-year border war between 1998 and 2000.
The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos and other Ethiopian religious leaders are in the Eritrean capital for the meeting, the first since the end of the war.
The two sides began talks Wednesday and will continue their discussion in Ethiopia at a later date.
The meeting was organized by Norwegian Church Aid, (NCA) a non-governmental organization, which had arranged a similar meeting before the conflict.
An NCA spokeswoman, Estrid Hesselund, says the meeting isa breakthrough in efforts to bring the two countries closer after the bloody war.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, says the meeting is an important step for both countries.
The Ethiopian-Eritrea border war, which claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides, officially ended in December 2000. It was fought over the exact location of the border between the two countries.
A new demarcated border between the two countries is expected to be issued at the end of this month.
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