Council voices concern about UNMEE's difficulties inside temporary buffer zone

Security Council members today voiced concern that the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) was experiencing increasing difficulties in its operations in the temporary buffer area separating the two countries' armed forces and in adjacent areas north of zone.

"Members of the Security Council call on the parties to engage further in constructive dialogue within framework of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC) to facilitate UNMEE's work, including through any further consideration by the Government of Eritrea regarding possibility of establishing sectoral MCCs," the Council President, Ambassador Richard Ryan of Ireland, said in a statement to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York.

The MCC is one of the main instruments for addressing the military concerns of the two sides and for UNMEE to consult with them on its activities.

Ambassador Ryan said Council members noted again with concern that the parties have not yet resolved the issue of an air corridor between the two countries' capitals, Addis Ababa and Asmara, and called on them to resolve the issue "as a matter of urgency."

Earlier Wednesday, a senior official from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations briefed the Council on the latest developments concerning Ethiopia and Eritrea.