UN’s Annan voices concern over Ethiopia,Eritrea troop movements
Nov 2, 2005 (UNITED NATIONS) — U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed extreme concern Wednesday at reports that Ethiopia and Eritrea were moving troops closer to a buffer zone that was established after a 2 1/2 year war over their still-disputed border.
The U.N.’s limited information indicated that no Ethiopian or Eritrean troops had violated the 621-mile Temporary Security Zone dividing the two Horn of Africa nations, Undersecretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council.
But Guehenno read a statement saying “the secretary-general is extremely concerned about reports received from the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea concerning movements of military personnel on both sides of the Temporary Security Zone as well as irregular activities inside the zone.”
The buffer zone was established after a December 2000 peace agreement that ended the brutal border war from 1998-2000. The deal provided for an independent commission to rule on the position of the disputed border, but Ethiopia refused to accept the panel’s April 2002 decision, which awarded the town of Badme to Eritrea.
Apparently angered at Ethiopia’s intransigence and the U.N.’s failure to ensure that the Boundary Commission’s ruling is enforced, Eritrea on Oct. 5 banned helicopter flights by U.N. peacekeepers in its airspace in the buffer zone. It then banned U.N. vehicles from patrolling at night on its side of the zone, leading the U.N. to vacate 18 of its 40 posts in the zone because of their isolation.
With its restricted ability, Guehenno said, U.N. peacekeepers report that “there is no violations where troops would have gone into the Temporary Security Zone, but there seems to have been movement in the adjacent areas, north of the security zone (by Eritrea) and in the Ethiopian side south of the Security Zone.”
He said he had no information on the number of troops involved.
“We are concerned about this because I think it is essential at this stage, this very fragile moment that neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea make any movement that could be misunderstood by the other side and could lead to a very dangerous situation,” said Guehenno, who is in charge of U.N. peacekeeping.
“This is a time to really bring the tension down,” he said.
Guehenno said he would be discussing this “very critical issue” with the secretary-general and expected the Security Council to take address it in “a comprehensive manner” in the coming days.
Last week, in response to warnings of a dangerous crisis brewing between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Greece presented a draft Security Council resolution demanding that both countries immediately agree to the Boundary Commission’s ruling.
It also demands that Eritrea immediately lift restrictions on U.N. helicopter flights and the movement of U.N. peacekeepers in the buffer zone and declares the council’s “readiness to consider further action” if Eritrea refuses to comply.
Guehenno said this is an issue where U.N. member states must become engaged “if we want to really bring the situation back to a more peaceful trend.”
(AP/ST)