Eritrea expels US, European, Canadian UN staff – Officials

Dec 7, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — Eritrea has ordered the expulsion of U.S., Canadian, Russian and European staff of the U.N. peacekeeping mission that monitors the tense border with neighboring Ethiopia, U.N. officials said Wednesday.

In a letter sent to the U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the staff have 10 days to leave the Horn of Africa nation, said a Western diplomat who saw a copy of the letter. No reason was given for the expulsion.

Two weeks ago the U.N. threatened to impose sanctions if Eritrea fails to ease restrictions imposed on peacekeepers.

“The officer in charge of the mission received a letter yesterday from the Eritrean government. They are asking some of our members of staff to leave, but the specifics of that letter are yet to be worked out,” said Musi Khumalo, deputy spokeswoman of the U.N. mission. Nearly 3,300 peacekeepers and military observers patrol there, and it was not immediately clear how many staff were ordered expelled.

It was not immediately clear whether the order was restricted to military or civilian staff.

The U.N. resolution had also urges the two countries to reverse a major military buildup on their border. It also presses Ethiopia to accept a 2000 border agreement, but does not threaten any penalties if the country continues to ignore that appeal.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, but the border between the two was never formally demarcated. The border war broke out in 1998 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives while costing both countries an estimated $1 million per day.

A December 2000 peace agreement provided for an independent commission to rule on the position of the disputed 621-mile border while some 3,200 U.N. troops patrolled a 15-mile buffer zone between the two countries. But Ethiopia refused to accept the panel’s April 2002 decision, which awarded the town of Badme to Eritrea.

(AP/ST)