Eritrean troops move 'illegal'

2005-10-19 22:49

Addis Ababa - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday that troops from neighbouring Eritrea had stepped up illegal infiltration into a demilitarised border zone with this country disguised as militia.

Meles was speaking days after United Nations peacekeepers said recent restrictions imposed by Eritrea prevented them from guaranteeing that there was no renewed military build-up along the border separating the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies.

Meles said: "The scale (of infiltration) has increased in recent days and this is a matter of concern to us.

"We have reason to believe these so called militia are members of the Eritrean Defence Force in a different uniform and a different guise."

Temporary security zone

The peacekeepers were the only troops allowed in the tense buffer zone that was set up after the two countries fought a two and a half-year war that ended in 2000.

Under the terms of a peace deal, no Eritrean troops were allowed in the 25km wide temporary security zone, an area in Eritrean territory separating the two countries.

Eritrea banned helicopter flights by peacekeepers in its airspace in the buffer zone starting on October 5.

It also banned UN patrol vehicles from operating at night on its side of the 1 000km long temporary security zone.

International ruling

Meles said the restrictions were a violation of the Algiers peace agreement signed by the two nations in 2000 and said the UN "should take necessary measures to restore the status quo".

Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions were long-standing, and there were fears of a new outbreak of fighting as Ethiopia refused to implement an international ruling on the border made in 2002.

Ethiopia had called for negotiations to break the stalemate, but Eritrea refused to talk unless Ethiopia accepted the ruling on the border issued by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, which was part of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Peacekeeping operations

After saying its work had been hampered by new restrictions imposed by Eritrea, the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea said Monday it was pulling peacekeepers from 18 of 40 posts in the buffer zone and strengthening operations at other positions.

UN secretary-general Kofi Annan later warned Eritrea that if it continued to impede peacekeeping operations, the UN might pull its troops out of the buffer zone.

A 1952 UN resolution paired Eritrea and Ethiopia in a federation, despite Eritrean pleas for independence.

Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally annexed Eritrea in 1962, sparking a protracted uprising. Eritrea declared its independence in 1991.

- AP