Eritrea: Annan warns of crisis

2005-10-26 11:40

Edith Lederer

United Nations - Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that UN peacekeepers faced an "alarming situation" in the tense Ethiopia-Eritrean border area following Eritrean restrictions on their movements, and he urged the Security Council to take action to end the "dangerous crisis" and prevent another war.

The council was scheduled to meet on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the dispute.

Greece's UN Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis said he planned to circulate a draft resolution calling for Eritrea to lift its ban on helicopter flights and vehicle movements and for both countries to start discussions on their disputed border.

"We will start discussions, and we need to see how members react," he said on Tuesday. "I don't see any action this week."

Airspace

Eritrea informed the United Nations that it was banning helicopter flights by UN peacekeepers in its airspace in a buffer zone with Ethiopia starting on October 5.

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

The zone was established after a December 2000 peace agreement that ended a two-and-a-half-year border war between the Horn of Africa neighbours.

The deal provided for an independent commission to rule on the position of the disputed border, but Ethiopia refused to accept the panel's April 2002 decision, which awarded the town of Badme to Eritrea.

Annan said in a letter to the council, circulated on Tuesday, that he was ready to work with the council and key parties "to bring this dangerous crisis to an end, to conclude the peace process expeditiously, and to re-establish vital humanitarian activities in Eritrea".

Impossible

He said the situation for the 3 300 UN peacekeepers and military observers "had seriously deteriorated" and the Eritrean restrictions had made it impossible for the United Nations to operate in 18 isolated posts out of a total of 40 locations.

"I believe that the present state of affairs represents more than just an alarming situation; it constitutes a crisis that requires the full attention of, and urgent and specific action by, the international community," Annan said.

Annan sent a letter last week urging Eritrea to lift its ban on peacekeeping flights, saying the move jeopardised troop safety along the buffer zone.

In a blunt response on Thursday, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki rejected Annan's appeal, telling him he lacked the "humanitarian high ground on matters of law, the rule of law and humanitarian issues".

- SAPA