Ethiopia, Eritrea 'positive'
2004-03-16 10:02
Nairobi - Ethiopia and Eritrea have been engaged in "very positive" co-operation in two military meetings set up in order to quell tensions over their disputed border.
"The co-operation they have shown in this process is very positive," British General Robert Gordon, commander of the UN Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), said.
The Horn of Africa nations fought a two-year war with several bloody battles over the border between May 1998 and May 2000, and relations have remained tense since they signed a full peace treaty seven months later.
In February, they agreed that meetings should be held among senior military officers from both armies in a bid to reduce the number of border incidents.
Patrolling
Gordon, who heads a force responsible for patrolling a buffer force on the Eritrean side of the border, was upbeat on coming out of the latest such talks in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Two meetings of the sectorial Military Coordination Commission (CMM) took place in March in undisputed territory, the UN said.
A third meeting will take place in the eastern sector of the border and another on all three sectors is already planned for April, Gordon said.
Eritrean Brigadier General Abrahaley Kifle and his Ethiopian counterpart Yohannes Gebremeskel "thanked each other for the co-operation" on the ground at Monday's meeting in Nairobi, Gordon said.
There have been no diplomatic ties since the end of the war and the only dialogue between Ethiopia and Eritrea is at a military level.
- SAPA