UN Security Council calls on Eritrea, Ethiopia to cooperate on marking boundary

Calling on Eritrea and Ethiopia to cooperate with UN emissaries and with one another in demarcating a boundary, the United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the frontier area until 15 September.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council urged the two Horn of Africa countries "to cooperate fully and promptly with the Boundary Commission and to create the necessary conditions for demarcation to proceed expeditiously, including through the unequivocal restating of Ethiopia's acceptance of the Boundary Commission's decision, the appointment by Ethiopia of field liaison officers and the payment of its dues to the Boundary Commission."

The two countries should normalize their relations and "refrain from any threat or use of force against each other," the Council said.

It noted that the UN, the United States, Algeria, the African Union and the European Union - witnesses to the December 2000 Algiers Agreements on a ceasefire between the two parties - maintained unanimous support for Special Envoy Lloyd Axworthy and the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).

It reminded the two countries that delays in marking the boundary were imposing "additional operational costs" at a time of "increasing demand for United Nations peacekeeping and resources from the international community."

In that regard, the two Governments should quickly establish a high-altitude flight route between Eritrean capital, Asmara, and the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to "relieve the unnecessary additional cost to UNMEE and member States," the Council said.