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With peacekeepers leaving Eritrea, UN mission at a crossroads, official says

With peacekeepers leaving Eritrea, UN mission at a crossroads, official says

USG Guéhenno
As staff members of the United Nations mission meant to keep the truce between Ethiopia and Eritrea began pulling out of Eritrea for security reasons following new restrictions placed on them by that Government, the head of UN peacekeeping stressed that the Mission is at a critical crossroads.

Eighty-seven staff members of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea left for Ethiopia yesterday following Wednesday’s Security Council decision to adjust deployment for their safety after Eritrea’s Government requested the ouster of staff from mainly Western countries, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations said yesterday at a press briefing prior to his departure yesterday from the Eritrean capital, Asmara.

“The measure that we have taken yesterday is of a temporary nature,” he said. It is [being undertaken] in the face of the unacceptable actions and decision that have been made recently by Eritrea. The Council asks us to review the future of the Mission and to promptly come up with a range of possible solutions or actions for the Mission.”

Mr. Guéhenno and UN Military Advisor Lt. Gen. Radhir Kumar Mehta had been visiting both Ethiopia and Eritrea to review and assess the situation on the ground, and ascertain what steps can be taken to improve it. Although they met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on 12 December, Eritrean authorities did not agree to meet with them during their visit.

“I think it is unfortunate because I think it would be good to engage, to be able to discuss the issues,” Mr. Guéhenno said. “That is the only way to move forward.”

He added “we really are at a crossroads,” noting that the Mission is looking at a range of possible options for its deployment and functions. If the parties do not manage to return to diplomacy, he warned, the Security Council “will have to look at the implications.”

Besides giving an okay for the relocations, the Council Wednesday reiterated its condemnation of Eritrea’s request last week for the pullout of United Nations personnel from the United States, Canada, Europe and Russia, as well as its earlier ban on peacekeeping flights.

The Council recalled its demand that Eritrea reverse those restrictions and provide the mission with the access assistance, support and protection required for the performance of its duties.

Tensions remain between Ethiopia and Eritrea due to an unresolved border dispute that erupted in war between 1998 and 2000.

“Never in the past three and a half years has the issue of the demarcation of the border--and I know the frustration on that issue-- been so much at the centre of the attention of the international community,” Mr. Guéhenno said, underlining the opportunity as well as peril for UNMEE that exists during this critical time.