The UN Security Council Monday extended the mandate of the UN
peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) until the end
of this month, waiting for the decision of the commission
demarcating the disputed boundary between the two Horan of African
nations later this week.
By a unanimous vote, the council decided that if the two rival
neighbors have not fully complied with a November 2005 resolution
on their common border in the light of the outcome of the boundary
commission meeting Wednesday, it will "adjust the mandate and troop
level" of the more than 3,000-strong UNMEE by the end of May.
The council's November resolution demanded that Ethiopia accept
fully and without further delay the final and binding decision of
the boundary commission and it deplored Eritrea's continued
imposition of restrictions on UNMEE's freedom of movement.
Today's resolution requested UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to
report back within seven days on the two governments' compliance
with the November resolution and "provide to the council any
further recommendations on adjusting UNMEE to focus on support for
the demarcation process."
Last month the council extended UNMEE's mandate until mid-May,
warning that it would review options ranging from transforming the
operation into an observer mission to withdrawing it
altogether.
The binding decision of the boundary commission in 2002 was to
award Badme -- the town that triggered a bitter, two-year border
war that ended in 2000 -- to Eritrea, which then became
increasingly critical of the UN for not forcing Ethiopia to accept
that demarcation.
Eritrea subsequently banned UNMEE flights through its airspace,
while restricting the mission's patrols of the temporary security
zone between the two countries.
(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2004)
