Annan dispatches peace envoys
2005-12-09 01:17
Addis Ababa - Eritrea's expulsion order for some UN staff threatens the entire peacekeeping mission along the country's border with Ethiopia as concerns deepen that the two nations could return to war, a senior UN official said on Thursday.
Eritrea has given the UN mission's North American and European staff 10 days to leave, a demand the UN has rejected. Eritrea has offered no explanation for the order.
A preliminary assessment of the order's impact on the UN mission showed it would threaten supplies, transport and communications, said Joel Adechi, the mission's deputy head, via video link from the Eritrean capital, Asmara.
The order could affect 180 of the mission's 3 300 personnel, Adechi said on Thursday.
That would include staffers from 18 of the 44 countries that make up the force, he said.
"The reason for the assessment we are conducting now is to find out how we will be able to carry out our tasks if those people have to leave," Adechi said.
"At the end of the assessment we will be able to see if we are able to function like this or what other measures need to be taken."
Top envoys
In response to the Eritrean order, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to send the UN's top peacekeeping and military officials to Ethiopia and Eritrea "to review and assess the situation on the ground and to see what steps can be taken to improve that situation", UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Thursday in New York.
Undersecretary-general for peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno and UN military adviser, General Randir Kumar Mehta, will leave "as soon as practicable", he said.
Annan and Guehenno rejected the Eritrean order on Wednesday, saying it violates Eritrea's obligations under the UN charter to accept all UN international staff.
The UN security council called Eritrea's order "completely unacceptable" and said members will be consulting on how to respond.
Troop movements
The UN mission reported on Thursday that the military situation in the buffer zone between the two countries and adjacent areas "remains tense and potentially volatile", Dujarric said.
"Troop movements have been noticed on both sides of the border and the ban by Eritrea on UN helicopters is still in place and restrictions are continuing on the movement of UN peacekeepers," he said.
On October 5, the government banned helicopter flights by UN peacekeepers in its airspace in a buffer zone with Ethiopia.
It then banned UN vehicles from patrolling at night on its side of the zone, prompting the UN to vacate 18 of its 40 posts.
Despite repeated appeals from the security council and the secretary-general, Eritrea has refused to lift these restrictions.
Last month, the council passed a resolution warning of possible sanctions unless Eritrea lifts restrictions on the UN peacekeepers and the two sides reverse the worrisome troop build-up.
- AP