From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Jul 01 2008 - 11:05:31 EDT
Ethiopia says UN mission as good as 'dead'
Addis Ababa - 30/06/2008
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The UN peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and
Eritrea (UNMEE) is as good as dead, according to the Ethiopian
government.
"It is now becoming clear that UNMEE's formal existence is about to come
to an end," the country's Foreign Ministry said in its weekly review of
the situation in the Horn of Africa countries.
Referring to the current debate in the UN Security Council on how to
bring operations of the force to an end, the ministry pointed out the
serious problem relating to the preamble of the Council's draft
resolution.
"Ethiopia has made it clear that any possible UN presence after the
demise of UNMEE cannot be based on the same principles," said the
ministry, noting that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had underlined the
same stance in a letter to the Security Council president on 17 June
2008.
In the same letter, Meles emphasised the fact that Ethiopia would keep
an open mind in terms of cooperating with the UN and the Security
Council, with respect to a UN presence in Ethiopia in line with
principles related to the maintenance of regional peace and security.
While concerned about border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea,
including the latter's restrictions on the UN peace keepers, the world
body has avoided making hasty decisions on the operations of UNMEE over
the last two years.
For UNMEE, it has been a frustrating existence on the Eritrean side.
Now, Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki has reportedly written to the
President of the Security Council stating that the Council could not
count on the cooperation of Eritrea with respect to future UN engagement
or UN presence in the area, following the formal termination of UNMEE.
According to Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry, the draft resolution being
considered by the Council talks about delimitation and demarcation
determinations of the disputed border between the two countries "in a
rather confusing manner and in a way that would make it difficult to
make progress."
"Ethiopia has repeatedly pointed out that appeasing Eritrea would not
ensure progress," the ministry emphasised.
The UN deployed the peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea to
monitor implementation of the agreement on cessation of hostilities that
the two countries signed in June 2000 in Algiers, Algeria.
Under that agreement, the peacekeeping mission would terminate when the
delimitation-demarcation process of the border has been completed.
No progress has been made on this aspect.
Addis Ababa - 30/06/2008
Pana
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