UN: Eritrea breaching ceasefire

2006-10-16 20:49

New York - The United Nations accused Eritrea on Monday of moving 1 500 troops and 14 tanks into a buffer zone established after a 2½ year border war with Ethiopia, "a major breach" of a ceasefire agreement reached in 2000.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Eritrean government to withdraw its troops from the buffer zone immediately, and to cooperate with the United Nations in restoring the ceasefire arrangements, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia have been consistently strained since Eritrea gained its independence from the Addis Ababa government in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war.

Eritrea's action raised the threat of renewed war between the feuding Horn of Africa neighbours.

A 3 800-strong UN peacekeeping force has been monitoring a 1 000km buffer zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia under a December 2000 peace agreement reached in the Algerian capital, Algiers, that ended the border war.

Helicopter flights banned

In apparent frustration at Ethiopia's refusal to implement a binding ruling on their disputed border - and the lack of UN action to pressure Ethiopia to comply - Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights in its airspace in October 2005.

Two months later, it banned UN night patrols and expelled Western peacekeepers.

The international boundary commission's ruling in 2002 awarded the town of Badme to Eritrea, but Ethiopia has refused to accept the decision even though under the Algiers accord both countries agreed it would be binding.

The UN peacekeeping mission reported that on Monday morning "the Eritrean defence forces have moved approximately 1 500 troops and 14 tanks into the temporary security zone", Dujarric said.

Checkpoint

The Eritrean troops also took over one UN checkpoint, he said.

"The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the incursion into the zone," Dujarric said.

"This development constitutes a major breach of the ceasefire and the integrity of the temporary security zone," he said.

"It could seriously jeopardise the peace process and undermine the Algiers agreements between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with potential consequences for the wider region."

- AP