Eritrea arrests UN staff

2006-02-13 20:42

Asmara - Eritrea has arrested several local staff of the United Nations peacekeeping mission that monitors its tense border with Ethiopia in a new sign of deteriorating ties between Asmara and the world body, said diplomats on Monday.

They said the detention of Eritrean employees of the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (Unmee) began at the weekend under circumstances that remained unclear.

They said: "The arrests started on Saturday in Asmara. No reason was given for the arrests. I don't know how many have been arrested."

Unmee officials could not be reached for comment, but Eritrean information minister Ali Abdu confirmed that some of the mission's local staff had been detained for violations of local laws.

Can't be a safe haven

He said: "Regardless of where they work, if they broke the law they should be brought to justice. Unmee can't be a safe haven for fugitives."

Ali Abdu declined to comment further on the arrests or on the number of those detained, saying: "I don't have the details."

Unmee, which has monitored the Eritrea-Ethiopia border since 2000, has 3 000 troops mostly from India and Jordan, and several hundred civilian personnel, including Eritreans.

But since October, the mission has come under increasing pressure from Eritrea, which banned Unmee helicopter flights, imposed restrictions and ground patrols and later expelled its North American and European staff.

The UN security council had threatened to slap sanctions on Eritrea if the restrictions were not lifted, but Asmara has ignored the demands and stepped up complaints that the UN and world powers are biased against it.

- AFP