Eritrea releases UN worker
2006-05-18 10:01
United Nations - Eritrea released one Eritrean civilian working for the United Nations but 10 others are still be held, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.
Eritrean authorities still have not provided any explanation for the detentions over a week ago or Wednesday's release, he said.
The civilians are employed by the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea whose peacekeepers have patrolled a 24km buffer zone between the two countries since a December 2002 peace agreement ended a two-and-a-half year border war. Most worked as drivers for officers assigned to monitor the cease-fire.
The treaty provided for an independent commission to rule on the disputed 1 000km border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Ethiopia has refused to implement the international boundary commission's April 2002 ruling, which awarded the key town of Badme to Eritrea.
Angered at the international community's failure to ensure that the ruling is obeyed, Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights and vehicle movements at night on its side of the buffer zone and ordered Western peacekeepers to leave the UN force in December.
Eritrea has previously arrested civilians working for the UN and the US, often holding them for weeks without charge. All private media outlets have been shut down in Eritrea, which is considered to have one of the most repressive regimes in Africa.
- AP