Eritrea refuses to pull out from disputed area with Djibouti – UN chief
March 30, 2009 (NEW YORK) — Eritrean troops did not pull out from a disputed area at the joint border with Djibouti despite a UN Security Council resolution last January, the UN chief said today.
The 15-member body on January 14 unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that Eritrea “withdraw its forces and all their equipment to the positions of the status quo ante, and ensure that no military presence or activity is being pursued in the area where the conflict occurred in Ras Doumeira and Doumeira island” last June.
In a letter addressed to the chair of the Council this month, Ban Ki-Moon said “We have no information that Eritrea has complied with” the resolution 1862 which last January gave Asmara five weeks to pull its forces out of the contested area.
Ban further stressed Eritrea was still insisting that it “has not occupied any land that belongs to Djibouti and it cannot accept a resolution that demands the withdrawal of its forces from its own territory.”
Asmara had immediately rejected the “unbalanced and unnecessary” Resolution 1962 saying it was adopted “under strong pressure from self-interested powers.” Also, The Eritrean foreign ministry urged the Council to deal with the “real breaches of international law,” in a way to remind the stalled border raw with Ethiopia.
The UN secretary general said he plans to pursue contacts with both parties as well as relevant regional organizations such as the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to assess how best to ensure implementation of Resolution 1862.
Last June the IGAD regretted “the action by Eritrean troops that led to loss of lives and injury and called upon both parties, in particular the government of Eritrean to heed the call for restraint by the United Nations, African Union and the League of Arab States and to receive facts finding missions to ascertain the situation on the ground.”
Tension between the Horn of Africa countries has been high since April 16, 2008 when Eritrean troops raided Ras Doumeira, which both sides claim, as it pursued deserters.
The neighbours fought for control of the area in 1996 and 1999 and have never held talks to resolve the dispute. Last June clashes were the first since eight years.
The clashes have assumed a greater strategic significance because both France and the United States have bases in Djibouti, a former French colony.
(ST)