UN’s Annan complains to Eritrea’s Afwerki about helicopter ban
Oct 21, 2005 (UNITED NATIONS) — UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has written to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to again complain about a ban on UN helicopters flights, which is hampering peacekeeping operations, his spokesman said Friday.
In the letter sent Tuesday, Annan reiterated that the ban “severely inhibits” the UN mission which is monitoring the tense 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) border between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary general expressed concern about “the negative implications for the security of UN peacekeepers and their operations” and reminded Afwerki that freedom of movement was a “fundamental principle”.
Annan warned that undermining the effectiveness of the UN contingent and the ceasefire arrangements on the ground would not advance the stalled peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The UN chief also voiced concern about restrictions placed on humanitarian operations in Eritrea, where food insecurity remains a key challenge.
“It is critical that these restrictions be lifted, irrespective of politicial issues and considerations,” Annan said in the letter.
Thursday, Eritrea accused its neighbor and arch-foe Ethiopia of “duplicity” for complaining about alleged Eritrean violations of a 2000 peace deal sealed in the Algerian capital as tensions over their common border soared amid fears of new conflict.
It dismissed Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s assertion that Asmara had violated the Algiers pact by banning helicopter flights by UN peacekeepers.
“How can the prime minister now evoke an agreement that he has nullified, violated?” Yemane Gebremeskel, a top aide of Afwerki, asked, re-stating Asmara’s position that Ethiopia has breached the deal by refusing to accept a binding border delineation. director of office.
“Ethiopia is occupying sovereign Eritrean territories in violation of the Algiers agreement, of the UN Charter, of express Security Council resolutions,” he said in his Asmara office.
The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), which has 3,293 military personnel in the border area, said this week the helicopter ban had left it unable to operate in nearly 60 percent of the area it is supposed to monitor along the border.
Asmara has yet to give an official explanation for the ban or for new restrictions slapped on UNMEE ground patrols that UN officials say have made it impossible for them to report with certainty about activity in the zone.
But Eritrea has repeatedly warned that a new conflict is looming because of Ethiopia’s refusal to accept the 2002 border demarcation made by an international panel set up as part of the pact that ended the bloody 1998-2000 war.
(AFP/ST)