Italian police to be withdrawn from UN mission in Ethiopia-Eritrea

ASMARA, July 7 (AFP) — The United Nations said Thursday it would withdraw 44 Italian police officers attached to the UN Mission in Ethiopia-Eritrea (UNMEE) in Asmara following a request from the Eritrean government.

UNMEE said the Italian government had informed UN headquarters in New York that the 44 carabinieri who had been providing security for UNMEE’s civilian staff in and around the Eritrean capital would be temporarily removed.

This followed a request from the Eritrean government for the carabinieri to stop patrolling in Asmara, UNMEE spokeswoman Gail Bindley Taylor Sainte told reporters here.

“The Eritrean government has said that they would prefer to not have the carabinieri operating in the city since they have police services that are available to UNMEE,” she said, declining to speak to the merits of the request.

“We do not have any comment to make on the Eritrean government’s decision,” Sainte said. “The Eritrean government is a sovereign one and they can decide where they would like us to be within their city limits.”

There were no carabinieri based in Ethiopia, she said.

UNMEE peacekeepers have been in Eritrea, along the border with Ethiopia, since 2001. They were deployed in accordance with the peace agreement that ended the 1998-2000 border war between the rival Horn of Africa neighbors.

The force currently has just over 3,000 troops.