One war over

PRESIDENT Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria and Anthony Lake, former national security adviser to President Clinton, can take satisfaction. They jointly mediated a peace treaty ending the two-year disastrous war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

These two revolutionary East African regimes, allies against past tyranny in Ethiopia, can return to nation-building. Both showed promise before a border skirmish in 1998 turned into major conflict, leaving at least 50,000 dead and dispossessing one-third of Eritrea's 3 million people.

An international boundary commission and a claims commission will deal with the disputes that led to the conflict and flowed from it. United Nations peace-keepers from the Netherlands and Canada will police the agreement.

Now the World Bank should resume lending to Ethiopia. Ethiopia can get back to growing coffee and Eritrea to fishing and tourism. It's good their war is over. They both lost it.