Eritrea refuses to meet UN envoys

Dec 13, 2005 (ASMARA) — Eritrean officials are refusing to meet with two UN envoys trying to calm soaring border tensions with Ethiopia and persuade Asmara to reverse its order to expel UN peacekeepers, diplomats said Tuesday.

The envoys — Jean-Marie Guehenno, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, and military adviser General Randir Kumar Mehta — arrived in Asmara from Addis Ababa late Monday and had planned to see top Eritrean officials on Tuesday.

But diplomats said as of midday no meetings had been scheduled and the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) abruptly moved up a news conference Guehenno had scheduled for Wednesday to 1:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) Tuesday.

“So far, no meetings have been arranged,” one Asmara-based diplomat told AFP. “It’s not looking good.

“I think the Eritreans may be taking this too far,” the diplomat said, referring to a series of measures Asmara has adopted in recent months to show its displeasure with a lack of UN pressure on Ethiopia to accept a binding new border demarcation.

UNMEE officials declined to comment on the reasons for the rescheduling of the news conference, saying there would be no formal statement about Guehenno and Mehta’s visit until then.

Yemane Gebremeskel, the director of Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki’s cabinet, said he was unsure if the envoys would be able to meet with with any Eritrean official.

“I don’t know,” he told AFP when asked if Guehenno and Mehta would given appointments with Isaias or other members of the government and military.

Earlier Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accused Eritrea of deliberately ratcheting up tension along the border and said Ethiopia would take deterrent measures to dissuade Asmara from starting a new conflict.

(AFP/ST)