UN chief says Eritrea obstructs principles of peacekeeping

By Tesfa-alem Tekle

March 6, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) – The U.N. Secretary General has slammed Eritrea for hindering the UN troops mission in the Eritrea-Ethiopia border saying it constitutes a violation of the peacekeeping principles.

The peacekeepers had been stationed in a 15.5-mile (25-km) buffer zone inside Eritrea. But Asmara turned against UNMEE because of U.N. inability to enforce rulings by an independent commission awarding chunks of Ethiopian-held territory, including the town of Badme, to Eritrea.

Eritrea’s restrictions on the activities of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) breach the fundamental principles of peacekeeping and raise serious implications for the safety and security of blue helmets deployed around the world, Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council released today.

The first group of UN troops – 50 peacekeepers from Jordan — left the Eritrean capital, Asmara on Tuesday for Amman. The move is part of the UN efforts to temporarily relocate the missions personnel, after the mission’s operation is paralyzed due fuel supply cut off by the Red sea’s nation.

Eritrea last week accused the United Nations of siding with its arch-enemy Ethiopia. “It is astonishing however why the UN Secretariat is abandoning its neutrality and serving the wishes of Ethiopia and its cohorts,” said the Eritrean Foreign Ministry.

The report said that the current crisis occurs at a time when several key problems remain in the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict, including the implementation of the final and binding decision being handed down in 2002 by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission.

The Secretary General said Asmara repeatedly promised to resolve what it described as a “technical matter” but took no steps to ensure the U.N. peacekeepers got access to fuel.

But he pointed out that Asmara still has a window of opportunity to reassess its position, as well as resume fuel supplies to UNMEE and lift restrictions on it.

In recent weeks UNMEE personnel – including peacekeepers and military observers – have regrouped from the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) to Asmara.

UNMEE stressed that the relocation is only temporary while the Security Council Is expected to debate on the future fate of UNMEE operation next week.

On 30 January, the Security Council unanimously voted to extend UNMEE’s mandate by six months, calling on both sides to show maximum restraint and refrain from any threat or use of force against each other.

(ST)