UN tries to calm tensions
2005-11-25 16:11
Nairobi - UN peacekeepers met here on Friday with senior military officers from Ethiopia and Eritrea in a bid to calm soaring tensions over their border that have raised fears of renewed conflict between the two countries.
Two days after the UN security council threatened the arch-rival neighbours with sanctions if they return to war, the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) hosted the closed-door talks in the Kenyan capital, officials said.
There was no immediate word on any outcome as none of the parties spoke with reporters after the meeting at a Nairobi hotel, but an UNMEE official said the mission would release a statement about it on Saturday.
The gathering was the first of the so-called "military co-ordination commission" (MCC) to be held since UNMEE reported this month that the border had become "tense and potentially volatile" with troop movements on both sides.
Although there have long been concerns the two countries - which fought a bloody 1998-2000 war over that border - could return to war, the situation began to deteriorate in earnest in October after Asmara slapped restrictions on UNMEE patrols in a buffer zone in its territory.
On Thursday, UNMEE said a small group of Ethiopian troops had temporarily breached the 25km wide temporary security zone (TSZ) that hugs the 1 000km border earlier this week.
On Wednesday, the security council warned both sides would face economic and diplomatic sanctions if they returned to war and said Eritrea could be slapped with such measures if it does not rescind its restrictions on UNMEE.
Ethiopia has yet to formally respond to the either the security council resolution or the report that some its troops had occupied an area in the eastern sector of the TSZ from Saturday to Wednesday.
But Eritrea has slammed the resolution as a "recipe for more conflict" and criticised the council for failing to forcefully demand that Ethiopia accept a binding 2002 border demarcation it has thus far refused to accept.